


Universal Invariant

by OfWolvesAndDragons



Series: Universal Invariant [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Violence, One Piece SciFi and Fantasy, POV Original Female Character, Reader-Insert, References to Illness, Science Fiction, Team as Family, Weapons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2018-12-02 21:12:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 80,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11517573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfWolvesAndDragons/pseuds/OfWolvesAndDragons
Summary: In a broken future piecing itself back together after the First Galactic War, alien-human hybrids with genetically-gifted powers are outlawed. Amidst it all a group of misfits end up in a battle to save themselves, each other and… well, fuck the rest of the universe. That can save itself. None of you asked for this, after all.





	1. Chapter 1

This isn’t exactly the galaxy’s cleverest idea and you know it. Shuffling further back into the darkened niches afforded by the alleyway’s shadows, you palm the cryo-egg in your jacket pocket for the dozenth time in as many minutes. For such a tiny thing its weight seems to treble for every minute that ticks past the agreed-upon deadline. The old-world handgun putting a dent in your other pocket only goes so far to offset that. Chen should have been here by now. He should have been here _nineteen_ minutes ago, according to the tiny retinal display etched into the upper right corner of your dark glasses. And he’s not. For someone so damn reliable that’s a very bad sign. A dealer should never be late, not with ten thousand fucking credits on the line.

“We should bail.” Baekhyun is twitching his feet, shuffling about on his tiny square of dirty alleyway beside you. You hiss at him to stop being so damn panicky. “This isn’t my area of expertise,” he shoots back, hands jammed firmly into his pockets. “And you know it.”

“I do know.” You soften your tone immediately, the solid warmth you feel every time your navigator sets foot off his beloved ship to help you broker a deal taking over. Despite a vehement dislike of gunfights he never leaves you high and dry, stoically following you into more shit through the last few years than your conscience lets you add up. You really owe him a new video game for this one. Maybe one of those retro ones that still require a console device to play instead of a neural plug-in. Those goddamn old-world things are worth a kidney at least but he does love them. You make a mental note.

As you do you scan the crowd of milling individuals flooding past the alley making their normal, ordinary, ever-so-legal way through the junk markets. Cyborg and human alike, they shuffle about the stalls and haggle in the desert heat for old parts and scraps of food, half of which you barely recognise. The hybrids are harder to spot; near impossible if they remain untagged from birth and quietly passing for human. Until one uses the abilities their spliced alien genome grants them, they’re nigh undetectable. And once they do, it’s only a matter of time before they’re found, arrested, contained, stamped and strung up in the dampening steel that prevents them from using their abilities.

The cracked holo-screen above the corner of the marketplace flickers to life, a pre-programmed government advert blaring forth to spout a speech you’ve heard a thousand times before. Almost everyone in the rundown city centre ignores it. The stupid things are timed each day; have been for as long as anyone still living can remember. You shake your head, a bead of sweat rolling from your hairline and down to the band of your glasses. If the fucking High Council hadn’t wanted this whole mess, they shouldn’t have started the fucking gene splicing program all those centuries ago, desperation be damned. But trust the government to want to weaponise that which they feared the most without thinking ahead to the consequences.

Above your head the deep, old-world American voice keeps booming out the pre-recorded message.

“The first intergalactic mission our brave men and women undertook outside the Milky Way was meant to broaden our collective knowledge; to broker peace and exploration of the vast emptiness of space. Instead what we encountered was beyond our comprehension. Space was indeed vast but it was not empty as was believed. The race of aliens that we awoke on the dying planet orbiting its rare twin suns over two hundred years ago were fiercer and more aggressive  than humanity could have hoped to defeat on its own. Having killed their host planet, the inhabitants of EXO-12 learned our technology, honed in on our signal and they followed us home. We were drawn into a battle we could not avoid and in all likelihood could not win. And so began the First Galactic War.”

You don't need to look up at the screen to know the images accompanying the words so you keep your gaze on the crowd, perpetually scanning for the familiar flash of purple hair that typically accompanies the arrival of your dealer. The images above your head keep rolling past anyway; ancient electric-powered footages jerkily shot from body cameras of soldiers as they screamed and shouted amid the chaos of vastly uneven battlegrounds. Flashes of fireballs dropping from the atmosphere like catapults of legend to pierce space cruisers, lightning striking buildings with accuracy impossible to believe, alien beasts larger than cars winking in and out of existence to tear fragile flesh apart, soldiers firing hopelessly at spikes of earth that tore themselves seemingly out of the ground to strike them down… You can replay the shots inside your skull like every other federation citizen around you; no one ever goes about their life without seeing it. No one is allowed to forget the year that nearly ended it all.

“When armaments failed, when negotiations were ignored, when we risked annihilation as a species, we turned to the very thing that had brought us out to space’s darkest corners in the first place; science. The bodies of the fallen aliens were rich with genetic material that could be broken down and grafted to the non-biological materials used for nanotechnology. The engineered alien nanostructures were temporarily merged with willing human volunteers of the highest military grade, gifting legions of soldiers with powers controllable by mind and willpower alone…”

You tune out from the drone for a moment, scanning the moving throng of people before flicking your eyes to the retinal display again. Twenty-four minutes. Six more and you’re legitimately going to have to consider this deal off, Chen’s perfect record prior to this be damned. You can practically _feel_ Baekhyun vibrating at your side, blonde head slanting from side to side as he keeps watch; you can’t sit here exposed like this with stupidly valuable government property in your pocket for much longer.

Above you both the voice kicks back in.

“…the war was brought to a bloodied close. With the hostile alien race brought to near extinction the valiant men and women who laid their lives on the line were amply rewarded. Genetic grafting was halted, the nanotechnology that had saved our race was deactivated to be left dormant in the human hosts and the program retired. But unforeseen circumstances arose in future generations…”

‘ _Men and women descended from those soldiers were born decades later with remnant, alien DNA_ ’ you absently mouth along, rolling your eyes behind the lenses. ‘ _Alien/human hybrids that became too destructive and uncontrollable. Renegades with inherent power too strong to be allowed in the wrong hands. Which is why by high court law all hybrids must be classified at birth, regardless of stature. Registration for a dampening collar is compulsory across all federal planets. Failure to do so will result in imprisonment for the individual and all existing genetic family members. Rewards can be made available for those willing to turn in any unregistered hybrid. Contact your local planet-side government repres-‘_

You cut off abruptly as a figure darts into your alcove, gulping air and trying not to cough.

“S-sorry. Got held up at the docking station.” Chen exhales heavily and takes another breath, straightening up. “There’s _another_ vessel of federal guards being offloaded there. That makes three this week. Far too many for such a small sector.” He runs a hand through his sweaty hair, shoving it back off his face. “Something strange is up. But yeah, sorry for being so late. I… didn’t think you’d still be here to be honest.”

Baekhyun sidles closer to the alleyway mouth to take up a lookout position to ensure he has a clear line to both your ship resting nearby and everyone present in the alley. “We nearly weren’t.” he mutters darkly as he shoulders past Chen who flushes slightly but shakes himself, smacking his hands together as if to shake off the earlier thoughts.

“Right. You said on the link up that it was a cryo-egg. Government grade?”

You fish it out slowly and unwind the cloth from the tiny bundle. Inside the clear vial swirls an unmistakable double helix, suspended. You let Chen take a good, clear look at it before you re-wrap it. “You have a buyer?”

“Deep space market.  That’s a pair of EXO polynucleotides? The real deal?”

“The real deal.” You square your shoulders. “Unfiltered alien genome. Someone very bad wanted to graft it to an entire militia outfit on the spiral nebula. Those fuckers could wipe out half their central system with whatever funky shit this little baby grants them. Please tell me your buyer has a vested interest in keeping this _out_ of public hands?”

Chen smiles, the kind that reaches his eyes and calms your nerves more often than not. “Yeah. Private researcher in the next sector. She breaks down the macromolecules to try and find which one links to what power. Been at it for years but the hardest part is getting decent workable samples. She hopes to one day cure terminal diseases if she finds the healing branch strain.”

Overhearing that, Baekhyun makes a soft, pleased sound. “That kind of gives you a little hope for this universe after all, huh?”

You smile back, unable to help it. “I don’t know much about hope, but it certainly makes us busting our asses for this little thing worth it if it’s going to a good home.”

Chen opens his mouth to answer and you should have guessed it, really. Murphy’s law. The universe never gives you a tiny bubble of good news unless it’s going to burst it right afterwards. Because in a split second you hear Baekhyun yell your name, a searing hot pulse of laser fire misses your ear by a fraction of an inch and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

Looking back, you imagine it’ll probably seem quite the strange week. Not exactly the way you wanted to start the events rolling that would change your life, but well… the universe is full of surprises.

Throwing yourself to the side, your knees hit the dirt and your elbows follow immediately after as you remember to tuck yourself into a roll to protect the delicate cryo-egg. Shoving the bundle into your pocket with one hand you draw your old Sig with the other, coming up onto one knee to brace. The singe of laser fire sizzles along the side of your scalp and you wonder just how close that last shot came, but you have to drop the thought when the already-dark alley plunges into full shadow and a bulky police cruiser descends, blocking out the sun. The heavy grind of booster thrusters at close range kick up every piece of dirt and rubbish around the three of you, blurring your vision into a grainy mess. Baekhyun’s yell of “Feds! Get to the ship!” swirls and is almost lost in the noise. Outside the alley several screams have taken up cadence, human and cyborg running for cover like rats. Federation soldiers mean business. Shit.

Pushing yourself to your feet, you hear the unmistakable sound of combat boots striking the ground as the cruiser deposits its payload of soldiers at the back of the thin space, several of them still firing as they descend. Chen ducks out the way of the first beams, drawing a thin heat-sync pistol out of his jacket. You know from experience he's no stranger to having to shoot his way out of deals gone bad but there's clever... and then there's suicidal. There's no way he can take on half a dozen armed men and you're sure as hell not about to let him die trying. You grab at his hand and pull him backwards with you, Baekhyun already at the alleyway mouth beckoning you both forward, one hand to his earpiece.

“We can outfly them! Go, pilot has it half-calibrated.” You throw out a momentary prayer of thanks that your long-standing instruction to keep the engine running while conducting a deal has always been adhered to. A ship may need the DNA fingerprint of a pilot and navigator to fully take off and function in the air but it can be kept on standby with just half that equation. Praise everything.

The soldiers shoulder their way through the alleyway’s debris, sights on their high-powered laser rifles gearing up and raising, training for better aim in the wind. Tiny red pointers flare to life and swing over your forms, trying for a lock in the foul air.

As you both veer past your navigator one of the sights swings low and sweeps over your jeans, obstinately aiming to cripple your escape. A rifle locks on, burning a single shot beam straight through the denim to skin. Pain immediately flares up your leg, making you see stars. You've been shot, your rattled brain unhelpfully supplies. Fantastic. You buckle.

Baekhyun catches the movement out of the corner of his eye. As you’re using Chen’s weight to lever yourself back up, you feel a distinct, sticky wetness coat your clothing. “Fuck,” you grit out, only just managing not to topple completely. Baekhyun’s eyes track the blood on your leg and a look suddenly crosses his face that you vehemently dislike. He flings out his hand and Chen smacks his small pistol into it as he drags you onward. You gasp and grind out, “Wait-“

But Baekhyun waves you both on, yelling through the downdraft. Six tiny red dots swim against his arms, registering that he now poses a viable threat. “If they get that egg we _all_ rot in jail. _Go._ I can distract them.”

“Civilians, you are under arrest for breach of peace-time law and possession of government property. Kneel and surrender your weapons.”

This should not be happening. To your knowledge Baekhyun likely doesn't even know where the safety is on such a weapon, let alone how to use it. If he fires on the soldiers they'll drop him without hesitation. And you’re not about to let that happen. You strain against Chen’s hand and twist, taking the best aim you can with your Sig in the godawful wind, now abruptly becoming the one being pulled along.

Chen keeps up momentum, physically dragging you step by step away from your navigator and your freshly-injured leg is a spiderweb of pain, forcing you to over-balance and follow his momentum. You can't focus on the advancing figures clearly in the downdraft and above all else you won't risk injuring your best friend. Shouting his name you draw up your free hand and fire a rapid shot at the closest one, cleanly as you can. The old-fashioned projectile zings wildly in the downdraft. Three of the red dots immediately zip from Baekhyun’s arms and where they had been crawling towards his chest and instead climb up your body. Stubbornly, stupidly loyally, Baekhyun spins back around to the encroaching soldiers, waving his arms, yelling, trying for a distraction. The propulsion noise snatches his words away. This isn't happening… You struggle to plant your feet for another shot. The soldiers are halfway up the alley now, advancing perpetually, steadily as lava and filling the thin space.

The engines chew up your voice that keeps repeating Baekhyun’s name as the cruiser above steadies itself, solidifying its position in the air. You squint upwards and your blood abruptly runs even colder. You’ve been a captain long enough to know when a vessel is bracing against recoil. And the only thing it could be aiming it's propulsion weaponry at sits just outside the alleyway in full view. You’d bet anything you own that the junk marketplace that had been swarming with all manner of life is now deserted at the sight of the armed law enforcement, leaving the only ship still in range clear and exposed. You flick your grit-encrusted eyes from Baekhyun and lock them on your beloved ship for a split second before Chen throws an arm in front of your face and shoves you both to the wall, the missile uncoupling and screaming out above both your heads.

The explosion ricochet is contained mostly outside the alley but the force still sends several flaming pieces of twisted metal bouncing off the walls and sheering around the brickwork near you. You hear Chen grunt at the partial shockwave and then with ears still ringing, you feel yourself being yanked away from the wall and around the corner.

Your hammering pulse jams your ears in place of actual sound and you cough around the smoke that now fills the empty, broken market stalls. Not a soul remains in the area. No one is quite stupid enough to linger at a time like this. Your leg screams in pain at your weight and you stumble, catching yourself on Chen’s grip to keep yourself from collapsing entirely. The crackle of burning wires and metal fills the air, carried on the whirled-about smoke and you shake your head, still trying to stop your forward movement. Baekhyun is still back there. Your best friend; the single cleverest navigator a person could ask for and nicest bundle of pacifism this side of the nebula is staring down six mountains of muscle and firepower. By himself. You don't remember the last time you ever saw him handle a laser, much less fire one.

A yell carries across the tinny sounds in your ears and you swallow, finally wrenching your hand from Chen and turning back towards the alley mouth.

“I comply! I surrender! I'm lowering my weapon now.”

You’d know that voice anywhere. “We have to go _back_! We _can't_ leave him!”

Chen lunges for you again, snagging your jacket sleeve before you hobble more than a couple of steps and uses it to swing your momentum slightly until he can wrap an arm around you, pinning you in place. The abject trust you’ve always had in his judgement is the only thing that stops you jabbing an elbow back into his ribs in that singular moment. Regardless, you still try to snap his firm hold, wrestling for balance on your good leg.

The law enforcement cruiser slows it's jets, lowering above the alley. Chen drops his voice, whispering rapidly. “He's the safest of us all right now. They won't kill a non-hybrid outright, you know that. _You've_ got the egg they came for, not him.” He grunts, wrenching you to a halt. “Stop fighting and _listen_ to me! We can't take on tactical weapons with our crappy handguns and they've got nothing physical to pin on him right now; he's just a surrendering civilian. You know he's not going to fire at any of those dicks. At most he’ll be tossed in the low-security holding pens until they process him.” His grip tightens, squeezing around your shoulders. “He’ll be planet-side until then. We can bust him out once we get the egg out of here. And we will, I _promise_. I know some people we can go to. But someone tipped them off about this deal and if they find that DNA on us we’re all burning in the black halls of Deep Space Alcatraz for the rest of our lives. Come _on._ ”

You scream through gritted teeth, kicking out of Chen’s hold. He watches you warily for a second, tensed and ready to snag you again if you make a run for the alleyway. But you know in the only part of your brain that isn't in shock right now that he’s right. Fuck it all, he's right. The cruiser’s jets power down as it balances on the brickwork atop the alley like a hideous, bloated beetle. You can partially hear voices in the absence of their whine reading rights. They’ve accepted the surrender. Baekhyun isn't bleeding out on the dirt.

You take a strained breath, thick with something you'll turn into anger shortly. Anger is always more productive than fear, than even grief. One last look back and against every burning fibre in your body, you force yourself to turn away from the only thing that has mattered in a long time and duck through the smouldering awnings, making the most reluctant trek towards the safety of Chen’s quarters that you can ever remember. Fuck this egg. Fuck the ten thousand fucking credits. You don't let your eyes rest on the smoking hull of your ship as you run by, turning gradually towards a more populated end of the settlement. Fuck the poor pilot who didn't sign up for this mission to be blown to a charred, unrecognisable mess. Fuck the only vessel in this universe you've ever called your own. You’re getting Baekhyun back. You’ll burn this whole planet to ashes if that's what it takes.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

The sprawling markets eventually give way to twisting, crowded streets; each step further making you sweat as the necessity of walking puts added pressure on your leg. “And we couldn’t take a transport pad, _why_?” you mumble, digging your fingers into Chen’s thick jacket. He’s busy glancing from side to side as you walk, taking stock of the melding waves of human and cyborg that are pushing past you. Looking for exactly what though, you don’t know. As far as you’re aware you’ve left the immediate threat behind you.

“I told you before,” he replies, glancing over with a concerned tilt to his eyes as you doggedly attempt to match his pace despite your lame leg. “There’s too many Feds being offloaded here. They’ll be stationed at all the major transport sectors by now. I’m sorry.” His eyes slip away again and the pair of you shoulder through the crowd. You try not to wince every time the hard metal framework of a passing cyborg knocks against your side in its rush to be wherever it is cyborgs need to end up during their daily travels. _Baekhyun would know_ , you think. He always paid attention to that kind of stuff; as fascinated with the workings of the alternate life forms as he was with the ship you called home. … _Had_ called home, you correct yourself bitterly. Everything you owned is now nothing more than a junk pile for the scavengers to crawl over once the metal cools and the Feds vacate the scene. The thought disgusts you enough that you don’t notice when Chen makes an abrupt left turn into a broken-down street filled with the skeletons of what used to be liveable residential structures. The twist on your balance makes you dig your nails into his arm through the jacket and he flicks an apologetic look back over his shoulder.

The dim street has seen better centuries. Cobbled together from what was once several sets of warehouses, they’ve been disused since the original colonisation period, making perfect real estate for anyone willing to string together enough synthetics to carve out an section of makeshift rooms in any quarter. Chen is thankfully one of them and several years ago managed to secure half of the topmost floor. It’s high enough over the rest of the makeshift slums to provide a decent vantage point and is small enough to secure properly.

A nondescript doorway greets you at street level. Chen hauls away the clapboard resting against the framework, revealing a tiny panel recessed into the far older structure around it. The sequencing of his passcode takes a mere second and the resident system unlocks the heavy steel door. He steadies you over the threshold and then re-locks the mechanism. The door closes with a dull thud.

It’s been a while since you were last here and improvements are visible. The graffiti that had always been present has been scrubbed off, plaster holes patched and there’s now what looks like a makeshift elevator rigged into scaffolding at the opposite end of the entranceway instead of the rickety ladders that had once been in its place. “Nice work.” You smile faintly, moving over to the base platform and finally resting your leg. “Almost looks homely.”

“We try.” Chen hauls the control device off its hook and presses the highest button. The mechanics clunk to life and ever so steadily you rise towards the latticework of interlocked steel beams that mark the top floor. It doesn’t take too long and you’re quite impressed. Chen steps out before the nearest door and offers you a hand off the platform.

“We?”

“Yeah, you-“

The doorway jerks open before Chen can reach for the handle and sawed-off shotgun hauls itself into the space, half an inch from his nose. Before you can react Chen yanks his head to the side and jams his free hand up, knocking the weapon aside. His other hand drops yours and he braces on the doorframe to kick the pair of legs in front out, sending the occupant tumbling backwards into the room. The shotgun spins out across the floor and he bends to sweep it up. “You remember Sehun.” he finishes, stepping over the prone form and dropping the shotgun back to its owner. “Come on in.”

You angle around the door and take in the sprawled bundle of roommate hauling himself unsteadily to his feet. “Hey Sehun.”

A head pops up and the scowl that had been covering Sehun’s face lifts, eyes focussing on you. “Captain!” He vaults the rest of the way up with a wobbly grin and widens the door, letting you enter gingerly. You wonder how you momentarily forgot the firecracker of a roommate Chen had acquired earlier in the year. He’s not exactly hard to miss; a rainbow of colour perpetually streaks his hair and his soft features nearly always sport a bruise of some kind. Reminders of all the brawls he finds himself in when he dares to wander the streets at night. Chen tries to keep him out of trouble but the kid has a certain habit that he finds it necessary to feed and someone as striking as that will draw negative attention the moment _any_ asshole spots him and takes a liking. Which is more often than not.

You return the smile with a melancholy one of your own. Sehun’s smile is genuine; his pupils are blown larger than an orbital disk. _It’s gotta be Rdium he’s hopped on,_ you think sadly. It’s easy enough to get and cheaper on certain planets than most other drugs. You achingly wish for a better path for him but sometimes life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows; you know as much yourself. Not everyone grows up to see stars… sometimes the dirt is all they can crawl to. And so they get by the only way they know how. You say nothing.

“Sorry about that, both of you.” Sehun winces, one hand at the back of his neck as he steadies himself, tipping slightly even with both feet on the floor. “Two of Vic’s men have been prowling around the place for days now. I thought one of them had finally made it past the keycode.”

“We’re installing a peephole on that door.” Chen’s firm voice floats in from the side room he’s walked into. “I’m not fond of getting shot because some sewer rat you didn’t knock out hard enough comes sniffing around again.”

“It’s- hey!” Sehun notices your leg as you limp over to the nearest flat surface -the long, moth-eared couch that sits by the window- and sink down flat onto it, removing your sunglasses and dropping them nearby. Your muscles are twitching from over-exertion. “What happened to you?”

“She was shot.” Chen supplies unhelpfully, shouldering past Sehun and kneeling near your feet with an armful of medical supplies.

“Yeah I… can see that. What happened?”

You exhale long and slow, dragging yourself back up into a semi-sitting position on your elbows. “We were ambushed. My navigator was captured.”

Sehun pulls an expression full of distaste and stumbles in a not-so-straight arc to the makeshift kitchen. He deposits the sawed-off carefully on the benchtop, flicks open a cupboard and retrieves a glass.  “Condolences. Feds?” A twist of the tap and he comes back with water, handing it to you. His fingers tremble and you pretend not to notice. Instead you shift your weight onto one elbow to take the glass.

“Thanks. Yeah. Someone tipped them off about my meeting with Chen.”

Sehun lowers himself to sit beside you, clearing his throat. His voice is slowing, dropping out of the buzz you and Chen had obviously interrupted, trying for a more serious tone as befitting the situation. “Any idea who?”

At your feet Chen rips open several gauze packs. “My guess is the cartel she pinched the goods from in the first place. Jeans off or cut; your choice.” He holds up a pair of medical-grade scissors, clicking them brusquely.

You crane your head to look down at the bloodstained, singed jeans. “Cut them.” You drop your head back with a sigh. “They’re ruined anyway.” Perfect ending to a perfectly shitty day. Wonderful.

“I… think I have a spare set of pants.” Sehun looks vaguely towards something in the direction of the entranceway door and then snaps back, hauling himself to his feet and wobbling in the direction of the spare room.

You drain the glass and set it aside, lying back with an am over your eyes. “How long has he been this bad?” you mutter, feeling cool air hit your leg as the denim is sliced from the ankle up to your knee.

“Three months now, give or take.” Chen peels back the crusted material, exposing the wound. “He must have found a steady corner to fleece because he’s got way more than usual. But that comes with consequences and some of _those_ are angry enough to follow him home. I wish I knew what to do to get him off the stuff but he’s an adult and I can’t watch over him all the time.”

You hum, the sound turning into a hiss as you feel the dry burn of antiseptic being poured over the already-painful skin. “D-did it cauterize?” you manage, blowing out a slow breath as the sensation of pain finally tips into numbness as the nerves overload.

Chen makes a gentle sound. “The centre around the actual laser did. The bleeding is mostly from the trauma of ruptured skin around the entrance of the impact site. You might need stitches if you want it to heal cleanly.”

You screw your face up, unseen, and wave the hand not resting over your eyes. “We haven’t got time for that. Baekhyun won’t be planet-side for more than a few days. If you can stem the bleeding that’ll be good enough for me to walk. The cauterization will work against any deep infection.”

“You really should see a healer.” Chen mutters but begins cleaning up the now-sluggish flow of blood down your shin. “Get this properly sorted. We have time.”

“I’m not wasting any time.”

A sigh floats up from between your legs. “We still need a ship if you and Baekhyun are to get clear of this place.” As if he can sense your incoming argument Chen plows on more firmly. ‘It’s no good attempting to bail him out of holding if you don’t have a way off this rock. You _know_ that. You can’t run and hide on the surface forever. Not with that egg.”

You make an angry sound through gritted teeth. “Where is your buyer located? The scientist?”

“Several sectors from here. So we’ll need something with hyperjump capabilities. Preferably weapons if you can find a pilot willing to fire them.”

A heavy bundle of material hits your arm and face, startling six months off your life. A dip in the couch follows, indicating Sehun has sat back down beside you. You drag the material off your head and scowl up at him. “Thanks.”

“You’re looking for a ship?” The edges of his rainbow hair are sopping wet. He must have dunked himself in cold water in an effort to bring himself closer to sobriety, you realise. “What happened to yours?”

“It’s in a thousand pieces, probably being sold off at junk stalls as we speak.” You clear your throat, swallowing the lump there. “Feds blew it up to cut off our escape.”

He has the grace to look regretful. “M’sorry. It was your home, right?”

“Baekhyun’s all I have left now.” You sit up slowly to peer down at Chen now carefully wrapping the gauze pad he’s placed over your wound with a clean bandage. A wave of awkwardness and guilt suddenly floods you. Black market dealer or not, Chen’s a friend too. “I uh… I never said thank you. I’d be on a ship bound for Alcatraz now if you hadn’t got me out of there and kept the egg safe. Sorry for bringing this trouble down on you. I really do owe you one.”

Chen looks up from his kneeling position, one side of his mouth quirking up in a brief smile. “S’what friends are for.” He shrugs. “And I like Baekhyun. I’m not going to see him rot in a prison cell. We’ll work something out.”

Sehun leans forward, elbows on his knees and hands clasped tightly together. It doesn’t quite hide the trembling, you observe. “If you need a ship,” he cuts in quietly. “I might know someone who can figure out where to salvage you one.”

“Really?” You glance between them. “Who?”

“An old roommate over in the rogue quarter. He’s a mechanic. At least he used to be when I knew him.” His eyes dart away and then back again, flitting from object to object in the room. “He was a friend. Let me crash with him until uh, we didn’t see eye to eye on some stuff.”

Chen tapes the bandage ends off, securing them as best he can before wiping his hands on a piece of gauze. “You mean he didn’t like having someone using in his house.” He collects the remaining equipment and stands. “Because I’d bet anything I own he tossed you out after he found out.”

Sehun purses his lips and looks away. “He’s a good guy. He just… has decent standards.” Running a hand through his hair he laughs hollowly. “Unlike me, obviously.”

“You’re not as poor an example of a human being as you sometimes like to believe.” Chen has wandered out of the room again and his voice floats back to you both. “You just have some things you need to sort out. You’ll figure it out in time.”

Sehun falls silent at that, his brain sluggishly processing the kind words. You take the opportunistic moment of him being spaced out to wriggle out of your ruined jeans and slide the cargo pants on. Once you’re presentable you tap his arm and he blinks, eyes focussing back onto your face.

“Your old roommate? You said he might know where we can source a ship?”

Sehun nods, ruffling a hand roughly back and forth through his multi-coloured hair. “Uh, yeah. Yeah. He used to work at a repair unit near the docking station. Should still be there.” The hand drops to scrub his face. “I’ll take you both there. Lemme… lemme just sober up a bit.”

Chen reappears, towelling his hands off. “You can just tell me the address. I’ll take her.”

Sehun waves a hand, getting slowly to his feet. You notice he doesn’t wobble as much this time. “No I- I want to do this. She needs help. And Chanyeol knows me; he’s never met either of you two.” He clears his throat. “It’ll take a couple of hours for my system to read clear. You have that time?”

You open your mouth but Chen cuts across you. “ _Yes_. We do.” He glares at you. “We need rest. _You_ need to get off that leg for a bit, even a few hours. It won’t kill anyone to do this.”

You flop backwards with a groan. He’s not wrong; now that you’ve taken your weight off your leg you don’t think you could walk to the rogue quarter right this moment if you were being paid to. “Fine,” you grouse. “A few hours _only_.”

You place your sunglasses back on and set the retinal display to a timer. Closing your eyes (when did they get so heavy?) is surprisingly easy and while you’re trying to listen to the rest of the conversation between longer and longer blinks your exhausted body decides that nope, sleep will be a thing. The final blink barely registers a colourful blur gently placing a threadbare blanket over your torso. You move to say thank you but its lights out.

~*~

The retinal alarm beeps on, forcing you to squint and open your eyes. The room around you has fallen dark; holo-lamps filtering artificial golden beams in through the curtains. Shit. You push yourself to your elbows, tugging the glasses off and shoving them into a jacket pocket. Blinking a few times allows your eyes to adjust to the twilight and you make out a softly-snoring bundle next to you, purple hair almost black in the dim light. Chen.

Sitting up further the light weight of the blanket drops to pool over your legs and you lift it away, swinging your feet clear. Might as well try standing again. You brace and drag yourself up, feeling the hurt muscles protest as they have to take your weight again. Letting out a breath you shift from foot to foot, feeling the support of the bandages. They’re firm and hold nicely and you figure as long as you don’t have to run for your life again in the next day or so your body might have a chance at healing, even if you do scar badly. Other things are more important right now.

You’re still testing your balance when you hear footsteps and Sehun emerges from his room, clipping a string of shotgun shells across one shoulder. His steps are steady now and he pushes the two shells he has in one palm into the cracked old-world weapon, clicking it closed. When he pulls up in the living room and notices you standing in the dim light, he smiles. “Good to go?” he asks softly.

You nod, glancing down at Chen and reaching over to shake one shoulder gently. “Hey. Time to get up.”

Chen scrunches up his face and yawns. “How long will it take us to get to your friend, Sehun?”

Wandering over to a small table Sehun picks up a plain black cap and puts it on firmly, shielding most of his tell-tale hair. “Maybe an hour or two. We need to get as close as we can by ourselves and then we can probably take a transport pad from the sector boundary. We’ll see how many guards are still around at that hour. His shop isn’t that far from the docking station.”

“And he’ll still be at the shop by the time we get there? That’s pretty late to be working.” You pat down your jacket pockets to double-check; egg, pistol, glasses. All still present.

Sehun chuckles, lifting a dark jacket from the table and working it on over his armaments. “Dude loves the place. He was hardly ever home. If he’s anywhere, he’ll be there.”

Chen stretches, joints popping and stands up. “Okay, let’s do this.” He moves to the kitchenette area and opens the hydro-vault, withdrawing three slim packets. Returning to you both he tosses one to you and Sehun each. “Eat up. We’re going to need the energy.” Sehun snatches his from mid-air and the move exposes the bullet belt. Chen eyes it warily. “…And weapons apparently.”

Tearing his protein compound block open, Sehun makes a derisive sound. “When was the last time you ventured there without taking precautions?” he mumbles around a mouthful of the synth-food. “Hybrids everywhere over there.”

Chen’s eyebrows climb. “I don’t know. I don’t exactly make a habit of hanging out there unless I have a deal.”

Sehun shrugs. “Better to be safe than sorry, trust me. It’s not a nice place.” He tears through the last of the block and lobs the wrapper in the direction of the trash. Wiping his hands he looks at the pair of you expectantly. “Ready?”

You swallow the small mouthful of compound you’ve been chewing, feeling the strange, gooey lump it makes as it goes down. ”Yeah, let’s do this.” You move towards the entrance and catch Chen checking the power level on his heat-sync pistol before he follows.

Holding the rest of the bar between your teeth you open the door and let them both through with one hand, withdrawing your Sig from its pocket with the other and slipping it into the waistband at the back of your new pants. They’re not exactly the best fit and this move makes them hang a little heavier but it’s easier for a quick draw and still hidden under the tail of your jacket. Sehun walks out and over to the makeshift elevator. You find yourself tracking his steps again, checking for any instability but his system seems to have flushed the drug and he’s walking just fine. He’ll be good for a solid few hours until he starts to tweak into withdrawals. Praise everything.

As Chen steps out and closes the door behind him he pauses. “Hold up. Hey Sehun your friend isn’t going to help us just out of the kindness of his heart. How much is he going to want? I’ll get it from the vault.”

Before Sehun can reply you pull the bar from your mouth and cut in. “It’s all good. I have this covered.”

Chen squints at you, hand still on the doorknob. “Are you… sure? The guy’s payment aside, this is a whole ship you’re looking for. Not exactly your average shopping trip.”

You smile slowly, reaching out and placing your free hand over his to tug the door shut. “I got this. Trust me for once.”

Chen’s look of confusion persists as you both move to the elevator platform. However as you both step onto it with Sehun, he makes an incredulous face.

“Just what the hell _else_ did you steal from that cartel?”

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

The light from this planet’s single broken moon is thankfully perpetually weak. It barely penetrates the night cloud cover as the three of you make your slow, steady way through first the back alleyways and then the overgrown, vacant lots that pepper the abandoned zones between the sectors. Each new quarter of the desert city here developed independently over the decades, tacking themselves onto the main colonised hub as need, greed or opportunity required. You’ve had to traverse them before for business but only by direct transport pad from the outer districts; sneaking in illegally is far slower but you begrudgingly acknowledge there’s probably less chance of being discovered at the boundary by the patrols.

Sehun has point, scouting a couple of meters ahead of you and Chen who are keeping pace, dropping back only occasionally to motion for a change in direction or to point out Federal squadrons making their noisy way through the wasteland.

“He’s incredibly familiar with this path,” you observe quietly.

“There’s not a lot of drugs in the rogue quarter.” Chen supplies grumpily, picking his way along beside you. “Any hybrids that hide there generally don’t like substances that impair cognitive functions. There’s a greater chance of them accidentally using their abilities when high as balls and getting discovered. And there’s supposedly a larger concentration of them in this quarter than other places of the city.”

“Ah.” So when he was rooming with Chanyeol Sehun had needed to learn a route that took him back and forth to his supply. _Fair enough._ Not your place to judge.

The last standing corner wall of what was once a warehouse gives way to a section of crumbled watchtower. An ugly, ancient bastion of the Federal influence that had once attempted armed control of the hybrids before they went rogue and ceased submitting to governmental regulations generations ago. Now it stands disused and weakened; a spindly skeleton signalling nothing more than the mostly-unmarked boarder between quarters. Sehun makes a beeline for the twisted fence line below it, slipping through a gap in the chainlink with the softest of sounds. Chen and then you follow.

A jagged piece of something snags on your too-big pants as you crouch and step though last. You glance down, tugging your leg free from the fence and your eyes land on a tiny green laser beam no bigger than a hair’s width that protrudes from a crude device hooked onto the chain. Shit.

“Tripwire!” you hiss. Both Sehun and Chen spin back to face you, eyes wide. You’ve broken the beam by getting yourself hooked. “What the hell?”

“Fuck. I haven’t been this way since I moved quarters.” Sehun shoots back, grabbing your arm. “Move!”

The beam winks out. A terrible grinding noise sounds from above your heads and all three of you look up, panicked. From the topmost level of the abandoned watchtower a hidden sentinel cyborg unfolds, gears interlocking as it assembles.

Up in the darkness two emerald green eyes blink into existence on the formless face. Sehun shoves both you and Chen towards the legs of the tower as the sentinel launches itself into the air, dropping with the weight of a concrete block between the three of you. The force of its impact on the dirt reverberates up your bad leg.

“I can’t outrun this!” You tug the Sig from your waistband. At the sound of your voice the sentinel’s faceplate rotates in your direction, eyes locking on. “You two go!”

Chen raises his laser beside your gun. “Don’t be an idiot.”

The sentinel unfurls to its full six foot height and raises a dusty arm, synthetic fingers withdrawing into the wrist-plate. “Weaponry detected.” a voice-box grates. “Civilians, disarm.” You stare down the hollow protrusion with dawning horror as it begins to rotate, first slowly and then with gathering speed. Chen doesn’t waver but this is one game of chicken neither of you are winning. Ever.

You throw your weight into him as he squeezes his trigger, the heat-sync pistol igniting. A laser bolt flares off-target into the sentinel’s shoulder, jolting it back half a step as it fires its primary minigun, the spray of bullets tearing up the dirt where you two had been standing moments before. You land half on top of Chen, knocking the wind out of yourself. Chen rolls out onto his back, raises his pistol between his braced knees and fires down the length of his body. The sentinel, shoulder and now chest streaming grey smoke, lurches to one side and reloads.

“Sehun!” You stagger to your feet. “Do something!”

“Hostile engagement is undesirable. Endangerment protocols instancing.” You train your Sig on the cyborg as it approaches, arms shaking. “Human life forfeit.” The reload completes. The minigun starts to spin again.

You stand above Chen and take frantic aim, unloading the clip into the weaponised arm. The old-world projectiles tear through the framework and plating as the sentinel bears down, clanking into your space. You scramble to back up, feeling your back landing against the leg of the tower as your clip empties.

The minigun cracks, sparks sheering as the weapon breaks apart. The sentinel off-balances for a split second and you duck to one side fumbling in your jacket for a spare clip. But the other intact arm shoots out in anticipation of your movement, thick finger plates closing around your neck. The pressure under your skull becomes unbearable as your entire body weight is abruptly hauled up.

You drop your weapon and gurgle, scrabbling against the iron grip. From below you Chen vaults up and tries to pry the fingers free, laser all but forgotten. The expressionless faceplate rotates to look at him. You try to call out; to tell him to get away but it takes all your strength to suck air down your constricted throat.

“Weapon threat neutralised.”

Your vision swims. Another human arm appears amid the spots sparking along your eyes and drags Chen’s hands away.

“Hey asshole.”

The faceplate rotates a full 180 degrees as the sentinel swings its head around, facing the voice. Sehun places the sawed-off’s tip against its temple. “Not all weapons.”

You slam your eyes shut. The close-ranged blast shatters the skull of the sentinel, electronics and hydronic fluid splattering across you like cold blood. The cyborg collapses like a doll with its strings cut, dropping to the dirt. The dead hand on your throat drags you down and it’s only Chen catching you that stops you hitting the ground with it. Tiny stars bloom across your vision as he pulls the lifeless digits away. You heave, coughing. Even breathing feels like drawing in broken glass.

Sehun crowds close, gentle fingers prodding at your throat, feeling for any damage and you swat at him weakly. Even that tiny amount of pressure hurts. “M’okay,” you rasp out. “G’mme a sec.” You keep your eyes closed until the stars fade out and the sharp ringing in your ears lessens slightly. Steadily you drag in as many slow breaths as you can. God, oxygen never felt so good. You cough again, finally prying your eyes open.

The sentinel lies below you in a pool of its own cranial fluids, one leg still twitching feebly. Sehun crouches down and grabs a handful of the wet wiring through where the faceplate had been and yanks. The leg comes to a stop. “Fucking _thing_.”

You eye the Federal emblem on the chest and croak out, “Why would that be here _now_? This place is a wasteland. No one monitors the boundaries with cyborgs any more.”

Chen looks rattled. “The emblem is updated. It’s not an old model.”

“I _swear_ they weren’t here when I used to come through.” Sehun scrunches his face up, standing and moving over to the gap in the dilapidated fence that you all snuck through. “I ran this route hundreds of times.” Lashing out he crunches the tripwire mechanism under one boot. “They’re re-arming the boundaries. This is crazy.”

You feel gingerly around your throat. It’s going to be one hell of a bruise tomorrow when the swelling goes down. You’re lucky nothing was crushed. _What a goddamn great trip this is turning out to be_. “It’s not our problem any more tonight.” You wriggle your head back and forth, testing movement. “We’ll just make sure we come back this way so we don’t set any more of these things off somewhere else down the fence line.”

Chen looks down at the sentinel. “What do we do with it?”

“Leave it.” Sehun doesn’t look at the cyborg’s corpse as he walks back past. “We don’t have time to get rid of it.”

“But someone’s going to find it. A patrol or something.”

Sehun shrugs, ejecting the expended shell casings and clicking two more into place. “By which time we’ll be there and back. But we need to keep moving. The transport pad I used to use isn’t far.”

You drop your hand. “I’m all for that.” Looking around for a moment produces the location of your dropped Sig. You retrieve it and swap out the empty clip for your spare. It’s all you have left. Here’s hoping you don’t have to use it again too soon. “Let’s go.”

Sehun nods and takes up the lead again. Chen turns you with a faint touch to your side and without looking back, all three of you leave the body cooling in the dirt.

~*~

The transport pad powers down with a faint hum, quantum network dispersing in a light so bright you’re momentarily blinded. A couple of blinks and your optic nerves adjust, allowing you to step down off the pad and into the room surrounding it. A minute later Chen appears, following suit. Sehun is already present checking the doorway that leads to the street outside.

You glance around the storage space, taking in the thick layers of cobwebs that lace the bulky equipment stacked haphazardly in each corner. The only footprints showing on the floor’s dust ahead of you are Sehun’s. “Was this a decommissioned transport pad?” you ask. It doesn’t look like anyone’s used it in a very long time.

“Supposed to be, yes.” Sehun withdraws his head from outside and motions you both over. “The repair shop is just down the street.” He slides the sawed-off under his dark jacket, out of plain sight and steps through the door. “This way.”

Chen shares a look with you and follows. You’re the last to step outside so you pull the door shut as discretely as possible. The noise of the street hits you; even at this late hour the rogue quarter doesn’t sleep. Pedestrians of all races wind their way through the public cruisers and a steady thrum of chatter masks your arrival. No one even seems to look twice as the three of you slide into the mass of bodies and make your way north.

True to his word the shop is exactly where Sehun said it would be. Bypassing the front door and its jaunty ‘closed’ projection, Sehun reaches over a low gate at the side and unlatches it, ushering you both through. It closes with a tiny clink behind you. From down the side you can hear the dull thump of music. Base and an old-world guitar if you’re registering it correctly. It gets louder as you approach the back, finally cresting into a wailing riff as the repair bay comes into view.

The broad side of a large dredge barge takes up most of the interior, its bulk filling the open-topped bay. Quite a few of its electronic insides are scattered across the floor in organised piles and you weave your way through them. “Hello?” The music drowns out your voice so you try again a little louder this time. “Anyone home?”

Chen taps your arm and points up. A wielding light glows from inside the broken cockpit. There’s a ladder nearby so you take a hold and haul yourself up the rungs. It’s a little slow going but you make it to the top, peaking over the glass. “He-“

A pair of broad shoulders greets you, attached to a body hunched near the footwell of the cockpit, welding shield clamped firmly down over the man’s face as he works. His head bobs silently to the music, pink hair ruffling. But that’s not what gives you shocked pause. There’s no plasma cutter in the man’s hands. In place of a machine a white-hot flame powerful enough to cause a long, searing gash in the framework sparks from his fingertips. _That_ was the glow you saw. Not a wielding machine. _Not a human._ You reel back, elbow knocking against the glass. He’s a _hybrid_.

You must have made some kind of sound in your surprise because the head snaps up, flame immediately extinguishing. One hand raises the welding shield and the man stands, filling the small space. “Who the hell..?”

You scoot back down the ladder, dropping the last few feet to the ground, much to the displeasure of your leg. “Oi Sehun,” the music is still thumping. “You failed to mention something!”

A clang sounds from inside the cockpit and a figure vaults out, skidding down the ladder, welding helmet discarded. “What are you doing here?”

You open your mouth to reply when the thumping music cuts out mid-song. The resulting empty silence is startling and you look around. Sehun stands off to the side of the barge, one finger on the holo-display winking above the radio sitting on a workbench. “Hey Chanyeol,” he intones quietly.

The change is instant. Chanyeol’s face twists into angry lines and he shoulders past you and Chen, both momentarily forgotten. A flick of one wrist and a palmful of fire ignites in his hand. Without missing a beat Chanyeol lobs it at Sehun.

“Hey!” Sehun dives to one side, his hand breaking free of the display. The music roars back to life; guitars and drum beat thumping hard. The fireball singes the wall where he’d just been standing and Sehun ducks behind the barge, Chanyeol striding after him. “They’re friends! Calm the fuck down!”

“You think I care what Rdium-heads you’re hanging with?” Chanyeol’s furious words float back as he rounds the broad side of the barge. “I _told_ you never to bring anyone here.” The flares of multiple fireballs incinerating the metalwork light up behind the barge like a firework display. “Especially not other users! There’s nothing here for you to steal or shoot up!”

“We’re not-” you frantically motion for Chen to cut the music and dash towards the cockpit end, barrelling into Sehun’s side as he back-pedals around it, hands placatingly held out in front of him. You try to put yourself between both men as Sehun nearly trips over a transistor. “We’re not addicts!” you yell, trying to wave Chanyeol down. Jesus, he’s tall. “Hold up! Stop!”

The music volume cuts out again and your last words echo in the space left behind. Chanyeol pauses. You take a heavy breath, plowing ahead with the opening. “We’re not looking for Rdium,” you manage, eyeing the handful of flame in front of yourself very, very warily. “We need your help. Sehun told us you’d know where to find a ship. Something with a jump core.” The words tumble out and Chen skids around the corner, trying to add more bodies between Chanyeol and Sehun.

Chanyeol looks momentarily surprised. The flame winks out and he snaps his hand closed. “Oh.”

“ _Oh_?” Sehun wheezes from behind you. “Is that all you’ve got to say after nearly frying me?”

Chanyeol turns away. You think you see the flash of a half-smile as he does but it’s gone in an instant. “If I’d wanted you as a pile of ash Sehun, you wouldn’t still be standing here.”

You let out a sigh of relief and turn to Sehun. He looks… ashamed. You briefly wonder just what those ‘differences of opinions’ Sehun had mentioned earlier entailed exactly after hearing the things just said. But now’s not the time for that line of questions. Chanyeol has calmed down and seems willing to talk, but as you follow him out around the barge and towards a bench on one corner of the room you wonder how long that will last.

Chen and Sehun follow a little slower. Chanyeol reaches the bench and lifts a small flask from it. The contents smell deliciously like coffee and you’re reminded rather suddenly of how little rest you’ve had in the last twenty four hours. Chanyeol takes a swig and turns back to face the rest of you, one hip propped against the woodwork. “So if you’re not here to steal from me what do you want? A ship you said?” He eyes you carefully. “What type? And what for?”

“Interplanetary. Hyper-jump capable. Weapons grade if possible.”

His eyebrows rise, nearly disappearing behind the pink fringe. “That’s very specific. Not to mention expensive.” He replaces the flask on the table and leans back, arms crossed. “What are you running from?”

Chen sighs. “Feds. We had an… altercation. One of our friends was arrested. We need him back and a way off the planet within the next couple of days. Sehun said you might know where to source something.”

Chanyeol easily looks over your heads. Sehun is fidgeting silently behind you but straightens at his name and looks Chanyeol in the eyes. “Please. They’re pretty desperate and won’t be able to get out of here any other way. I wouldn’t have brought them here otherwise. You were the only person I knew who had the connections to source something like this.”

Chanyeol looks thoughtful but not… quite convinced. “I’m not exactly in the business of sticking my neck out where Feds are concerned.” His eyes soften a fraction. “For obvious reasons I’m sure you can now understand.”

You deflate. “I do. I… didn’t know about your heritage before we came here. I’m sorry.”

Chanyeol huffs a laugh at that. “Yeah I gathered that by your reaction from before. But now you do in the worst way possible. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. That was incredibly careless of me and I apologise.” He heaves a breath, blowing it out towards the open roof. “But you’re Sehun’s friends. And you don’t look like tweakers.” He pushes off the bench and looms closer.

“Two things before I even _think_ about asking around.” He points a hand at Chen and you. You both immediately take a preemptive step back.

“Names and arms. Roll up your sleeves. If there’s no track marks I’ll consider listening to your story.”

 

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

The bright, oval diamond appears to take up much more space than it actually inhabits, sitting innocuously on a cloth in the centre of the work bench surrounded by several now-empty coffee mugs. You fold a corner of the material back over it so the men stop staring. Chanyeol finally clears his throat.

“Yeah I think that’ll cover the costs. Where the hell did you _find_ a planetesimal diamond of that size?”

You share a glance with Chen. “The cartel I took it from were mining meteorite craters in their system. This was the biggest they’d uncovered.”

Chanyeol still looks like he’s trying to process something and not laugh at the same time. “And you just… picked it up and left?”

You smile slowly. “The tiered vault system they used wasn’t exactly military grade, but it did allow them to store cryogenic materials alongside non-biological valuables. I‘d secured access through a hacked system grid in order to take the egg but it happened to be there as I was leaving so I decided to grab it as well. Insurance if something went wrong.”

Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair backwards, causing it to stick up in all directions. “I’ll be damned. Okay, so I guess that answers the question of payment.” He watches you retrieve the diamond and wrap it up carefully, tucking it away inside a pocket. “It’ll take me a little bit to get a link set up to some old colleagues to see if anyone is selling anything compact and armed. Maybe a week?”

“That might be too long.” Chen looks back at Sehun who has stayed quiet for the majority of the discussions in the last hour, mostly hanging back and finishing his coffee. “We’ll compensate you for your trouble. Is there anything else you can try?”

“I don’t know. Other repair shops maybe?” Chanyeol shrugs. “Someone might be willing to sell something instead of paying to fix it. But this kind of a purchase usually requires a little bit of planning. Not like you can just walk into a mall and order one.”

“Junkyards.” You all turn to look back at Sehun. Arms crossed, he runs his hands up and down his biceps. “They do freelance repair work and try to sell off what they can get up and running.” At your attention he turns away. “It’s worth a shot.”

You look back to Chanyeol. He tilts his head. “It’s a good idea. If they have something almost ready we can pay to speed up the process. Get them any parts they still need. I’ll ask around.”

“Well at least that’s a start.” Chen sounds pleased. He turns to you while Chanyeol pulls out a communications tablet and begins to dial in a couple of numbers. “Next step while he gets his contacts on line is to find us a pilot. You need the DNA fingerprint of a pilot _and_ a navigator to get past atmo. And there’s probably not enough left of the last guy you had to even identify him by his dental records.”

You groan quietly. “Do you know anyone… stupidly suicidal enough to join us? This might be a one way trip if we don’t get it right. No matter _what_ we pay, I don’t think too many people will take on the job.”

“Not really. If I have any dealings off-world it’s usually with you and Baekhyun. Almost everything else I can work from planet-side. I’ve never needed my own pilot.”

“Sehun, what about yo-” You turn but the spot he had been occupying a minute before is vacant. You look around; nothing but workbenches and the silent, looming dredge barge. “Sehun?”

“He may have stepped outside.” Chen takes a few steps so he can see almost around the barge. “He’ll be back. Don’t worry. He’s not going to leave us here.”

“Do you think he knows a pilot?”

“Doubtful. He’s never even been off-world as far as I know.”

Something about Sehun’s absence pricks at you and you sigh, watching Chanyeol, tablet in hand as he paces back and forth in front of the bench. Nope, you can’t let it go.  You tap Chen’s arm. “Hang about here while he’s looking. I’ll go see if Sehun is okay.”

Moving down the silent barge you walk the length of its shell, making sure Sehun isn’t sitting between the piles of circuitry and electronics. He’s not. You reach the corridor that leads back past the side of the building and slip down it. When you reach the other end the gate at the front isn’t quite closed. You reach out a careful hand and nudge it open.

The front porch of the shop is thin. It doesn’t leave much space between itself and the noisy street nearby and Sehun takes up most of it as he slowly paces the length. You close the gate firmly behind yourself so as to make a sound. His head jerks up. He’s still warding himself with his crossed arms as if he’s cold. He sees the look on your face as you give him a once-over and turns away. “Give me a minute and I’ll come back in. You didn’t need to check up on me.”

You lean a shoulder against the side of the front window, determinately not moving. “How long until you need another hit?”

His head twitches back to you, eyes strangely sad. “Is that really any of your business?”

“You made it my business when you decided to be the one to take us out here. We can’t finish this trip without you.”

“I can do this.” He rubs at his eyes, “I’m not going to fall apart on you guys just because it’s been a few hours. Just need a little air.”

“You can function?” You know how serious you sound; bordering on almost angry but you can’t help it. Rdium is powerful stuff. So are the withdrawals. “I need you to get us back to Chen’s place in one piece, Sehun. Can you hold it together for the rest of the night?”

He draws himself up a fraction, tucking tighter in on himself in the process. “I’ve got your back, Captain. And Chen’s. And even,” he waves a jerky hand in the direction of the workshop, “the hothead in there.”

That draws a smile. “He’s a good soul. Thank you for bringing us to him. He might be able to source us a ship using faster channels than a human.”

A pinched look crossed Sehun’s face. “I’m sorry for not letting you in on his heritage before. You and Chen are pretty open-minded so I didn’t think it’d matter.” He twitches his hands and clasps them both tight against his biceps again.

“It was a bit of a shock I’ll have to admit. I haven’t seen a hybrid in action in years.”

An almost-smile flickers and disappears again. “You should see him when he really gets going. Those few fireworks tonight are nothing.”

A deep breath and you push off the window, pitching your voice into a gentler tone.  “So are you going to brave those fireworks of his and come back in? See if you and Chanyeol can come up with a list of local junkyards.”

Sehun rocks up onto his toes and back down a couple of times, chewing the inside of his lips. Finally he nods haphazardly at the ground. “Five more minutes and I’ll re-join you lot. I just need to stop shaking. I can will those down in time.”

“Good.” You walk back to the gate and open it. “Because we need you on this one.”

You don’t miss the way he squares his shoulders at that, standing just a tad straighter as you slip back inside.

~*~

“—crazy _is_ he?”

You round the barge and come across the end of the conversation. “Who’s crazy?”

Chen turns to look back at you. “Chanyeol thinks he knows someone who can put us in touch with a pilot.”

Your eyebrows climb. “That’ll be a huge bonus. Does he fight as well as fly?”

Chanyeol returns from the small industrial sink where he’s dumping the dirty mugs. “He used to I’m pretty sure. I don’t know if he does any more, though. You’ll have to ask him. Or get my friend to ask him; he goes by the name of Kai. They used to run together under the radar. Illegal jobs no one else would take. Usually biological retrieval.”

The look of distaste on Chen’s face is what prompts you to ask, “Define _retrieval_.”

“Kai‘s weapons expertise is generally for hire. Always has been.” At your scrunched face and _go on_ motion he sighs. “A bounty hunter, okay? Sometimes the bounties… didn’t need to be brought back alive.”

“He hauled corpses?”

“Technically Suho did the hauling. Kai did the killing. But only when necessary.” Chanyeol adds hastily. “They’re not bandits.”

“They _sound_ like bandits.”

“How picky are you willing to be, Captain?”

That gives you pause. A set of footsteps closes in from behind you. “They’re good men. Decent.” Sehun rounds into your eyesight, arms now at his sides and a set to his jaw. “I’ve met them before when they’ve visited the shop. Well, Kai visited. And Chanyeol said Suho is the gentler of the two of them so he can’t be too bad.”

“This Suho is the pilot?”

Chanyeol nods. “He’s probably not gung-ho enough to accept this job by himself but if we can get Kai to convince him he might join. They used to come as a pair in all the work they did.”

Chen looks unconvinced. “ _If_ Kai can be talked into helping us in the first place.”

Chanyeol snorts. “Kai is exactly the brand of crazy you need for this job. If you can pay him his share he’ll sign up. And where he goes, Suho might just follow.”

You scrub your face. “Okay where can we find this Kai? It’s probably not going to be until morning, right?” You wish you had your glasses on for the retinal display. “It’s got to be nearly 3am by now.”  You’ll get Sehun to take you and Chen back. You might beat the patrols and get an hour or two’s sleep before you start out again…

“No.”

Your hands drop. “No?”

“Kai will be up. If you want to speak to him you can do it now. I know where he’ll be.”

Sehun’s knowing groan from behind you makes you squint. “And where’s that?”

~*~

The music is pretty awful, even by your broad standards. Loud, old-world and full of strange tunings from a system that was popular back then. You never really understood that. The three of you follow Chanyeol through the club door, the muscle at the entrance having taken one look at him and decided he was too big to warrant hassling. Thick smoke curls around your face, settling into your hair and clothing. You’re not entirely sure if it’s from the abundance of cigarettes or the machines set up underneath the floating stage platforms that raise and lower rhythmically, pumping out wraiths of vapour to be lit up by the swirling laser beams that spin like eternal, psychedelic flowers everywhere.

You can feel the headache already forming. “Do you see him?”

Chanyeol scans the masses of sweaty, dancing bodies for a while but doesn’t seem to find what he’s looking for. “The bar is around the other side.”

You spare a glance at Sehun. Sweat-covered, he has a hand blocking one ear and looks ready to murder the first person who approaches him. You can oddly sympathise. Chen follows Chanyeol past you, bopping his head. You smack him on the arm and he grins back, shrugging. At least someone is enjoying the beat.

Curving around the black-lit walls brings the promised bar into view. A holographic bartender flickers to life as you pass the front of it, one blue hand extending a drinks menu. You wave him away and he vanishes, appearing elsewhere down the line to serve a large gaggle of women who have tumbled up to the counter in a damp, laughing heap. You don’t see anyone else there and your mood drops. He’s not here. Damn.

However with an affirmative sound Chanyeol makes an immediate beeline for the group and you wonder if for a minute you misheard him earlier. You could have sworn he said Kai was a man.

How the women don’t notice him approaching until he’s right up against them you’re not quite sure, but the alcohol content in their bloodstreams might account for it. They’re crowded pretty close in a moving mix of bodies. As you watch Chanyeol startles them all with a brusque ‘excuse me’ and reaches into their midst, hauling out a figure you hadn’t even _seen_.

The women immediately round on him, angry. Chanyeol fends them off with his free hand, pushing them back gently one by one. “We just need a word with him, ladies.”

“Should we… help?” Chen looks as confused as you feel.

“No… I think he’s got this?” You reply slowly. Chanyeol drapes his silver-haired handful against the side of bar where he seems in danger of sliding off the bartop altogether. You pull a face in the dark. _This_ is who Chanyeol had in mind? He can barely stand up.

However the women seem reluctant to leave, wobbling against Chanyeol’s ministrations. One of them seems angrier than the rest and starts to push back, raising her voice. That kicks off the others and you recognise the signs; you’re about twenty seconds away from a lot of very undignified, drunken screaming and scratching. Screw this.

“I’ve run out of patience. Stay here.” Shouldering through the group you raise your own voice. “Kai! _There_ you are.”

A couple of the women pause, looking you over. You ignore them and shove past Chanyeol to the slumped figure propped against the luminous metal and haul him around by his collar to he can face you, his back now against the bar. Holy crap he’s floppy. “You cheating _fuck,_ ” you intone loudly. _That_ gets everyone’s attention. Good. One woman starts shrieking. Two back up.

A pair of dark eyes in front of you blink open languidly and a lazy smirk crooks the corner of Kai’s mouth. His head lolls towards you. A long-fingernailed female hand grabs for your jacket; you decide to hell with it and shove it away roughly, dragging Kai further upright and slapping him across one cheek for good measure. “I leave you for _one_ night and this is where you end up?”

The shrieking abruptly dies down and to the side of you Chanyeol seems to be ushering the shocked women away in a whispering pile. Arguing with him was one thing it seems, but no one is quite drunk enough to want to fight your jealous lover routine. Sehun and Chen duck between you two and Chanyeol, blocking Kai from their view.

“Jesus, did you have to hit him?” Chanyeol asks, reappearing a moment later having herded the women back to the dance floor.

“I wanted them gone as quickly as possible.” You release your handful of collar. “And I may have been a little fed up with the whole situation that was developing. Sorry,” you mutter to the prone figure almost falling off the edge of the bartop.  “What use is he going to be tonight though? He can’t even see straight.”

A rustle of clothing sounds and a calm voice replies leisurely, “I take offence at that.”

You spin around and Kai is there; elbows planted on the fluro metalwork as he rights himself and leans back on the bar, upright, smiling at you, _sober._ He cocks one eyebrow and you pull a face. “What the _fuck_?”

Kai reaches up and runs a hand across his jaw. “Nice right hook there, but I generally prefer knowing _who_ is slapping me before I let them do it.”

_The hell?_ You shoot a glance to the side but Chanyeol doesn’t appear surprised in the slightest - which lends you some small measure of comfort because you’ve already seen how he deals with shocks tonight and if there’s nothing igniting, things are apparently as they should be. He points a hand between you all. “Captain, Kai. Kai, this is Chen and Sehun. You’ve met him before.”

“Yeah I remember.” Kai drops his hand from his cheek. “So now that we’re all acquainted mind telling me why you and your friends broke my mark, Chanyeol? She was kind of important.”

You frown. “Your mark?”

Kai waves an elegant hand in the direction of the dancefloor. “The brunette in that group. Council has a bead on her worth twenty five thousand credits. I was working on getting her alone - which you four have just ruined in rather spectacular fashion by the way, thank you very much.”

“I- sorry,” you mutter. “I didn’t know you were working.”

“I did,” Chanyeol cheerfully cuts in. At Kai’s angry look he flicks his fingers. “But you can forget her. Twenty five thousand is nothing to what we’re about to offer you for your help. Clear your schedule.”

_That_ causes Kai to push off the bar and stand up straight. “What are you up to?”

“Not here,” Sehun interrupts, looking pained. “Somewhere quieter. Please.”

You can certainly agree on that. “Is there a back room?”

Kai tips his head towards the other end of the bar. “Alleyway out back.” Chanyeol and Sehun immediately head in that direction. You fall into step beside Kai.

“So the whole legless thing..?”

Kai flashes you a smile. “Whatever works. Looking vulnerable is always an easy in. You’d understand how predatory women get when they travel in packs.”

Unable to help it, you pull a disgusted face. “I’ve seen it. It’s a--”

A hand on your shoulder stops you mid-sentence. You turn back and follow Chen’s gesture toward the edge of the dancefloor. Several of the women are pointing vehemently in your direction and you recognise two big men in the same attire as the huge bouncer out front. Security. Goddammit.

Both the guards follow the direction the women are pointing and lock onto you. One of them raises a hand to an earpiece and relays instructions you can’t hear. Chen turns back to you. “We might want to move a little quicker.”

“Yeah,” you draw a deep breath. Man you’re getting tired. “Let’s get out of here.”

The winding warren of back rooms and storage closets is confusing as all heck but you follow along doggedly; once you get outside you’ll have space to get lost in the crowd and make your way back to the transport pad. Finally the maze ends.

Chanyeol has the final antechamber door open and you push Kai through, then Sehun and Chen, ducking past the black velvet curtain last. The soundproof door closes behind you and Chanyeol with a heavy thud, cutting off the loud club music.

That’s the only reason you hear the gunshot from outside the small space.

You and Chanyeol both barrel through the main doorway to the alley, skidding to a halt. You immediately draw your Sig at the scene in front of you, taking aim with both hands. “Back off!”

The guard from the front door is staring down his own old-world weapon at Kai who is propped up against the bottom half of the alley wall, one silver Beretta extended of his own. There’s an identical weapon on the floor by the knee he’s on because you spot his left hand curled around his side, stemming the flow of blood there. That asshole took a shot at him. You level your Sig at his head. “Hey!”

Chen and Sehun have their own weapons drawn and the three of you form a slow half-moon around the guard. Chen’s voice is calmer than yours. “Put your gun away, dude. We’re leaving. We don’t want trouble.”

The door behind you slams open and the two other guards pour out. Chanyeol sidesteps one and shoves the smaller man, using his own momentum to crack his skull against the wall. He drops like a dead thing. The second guard whips around and draws his handgun, aiming it at the hybrid. Chanyeol backs up a step, hands carefully raised. He keeps his fingers cold, revealing nothing.

Chen and Sehun have the door guard covered so you swing your Sig and point it at the second guard. Great. Now it’s like an old-world standoff.

Chen keeps his arm steady. “As I said we were on our way. Let us take our friend and go. We don’t want trouble.”

You chance a quick look down at Kai. Breathing heavily, eyes locked on his assailant through his long fringe, he looks murderous. The door guard laughs.

“What do you want to do with them?” The second guard is shuffling slightly. You think he can obviously count better than the other one and understands the numbers aren’t necessarily in their favour, even without knowing what Chanyeol can do.

“Two of your boys don’t look so well.” The door guard waves his weapon lazily to indicate both Kai on the ground and Sehun, who is having visible trouble keeping his sawed-off shotgun extended with a shaky arm. “I could still shoot the mark and that tweaker over there wouldn’t be able to do much.”

You flick your eyes to Chanyeol’s. His expression shows he heard it too. Another bounty hunter?

“Nor this one,” the door guard then gestures to you with his free hand. “Seems you’re lame, missy.”

You glance down and spot the small bloodstain on your leg. Shit. The wound has had too much strenuous movement to seal properly. You hadn’t even noticed in your exhaustion.

The second guard shifts his stance, uneasiness radiating from him as he doesn’t follow his companion’s choice of taunting words. He tries to rally. “Relinquish your weapons, come back inside quietly and we’ll call the police to deal with you.”

Sehun wavers a fraction, his arm drooping. The guard on the floor groans. He’s starting to come to. You don’t have long. “I think we should just leave.” You intone quietly. “This isn’t the fight you want.”

The door guard cocks his head, flashing a toothy smile. “No, I think I do.” He gestures to Kai. “The Feds will pay a nice sum to have a talk with this little hunter here. A nice long talk in a cell with no windows. His wanted list is a mile long, after all. Didn’t see him come in but when I got the call from the boys just then that he was in _my_ club making himself seen…”

“Nope,” You take a bead on the door guard’s forehead. “He’s with us. You can’t have him.”

Sehun suddenly crumples, shaking and convulsing; the shotgun rattles away along the cement. Kai takes advantage of the distraction and vaults up, knocking the door guard’s gun arm away and shoving him back into the opposite wall. To your left Chanyeol grabs the second guard’s weapon by the muzzle, his hand flaring white hot in the space of a heartbeat. The metal ignites as its temperature bursts past several thousand degrees and the guard screams, his hands flooded in molten steel.

You flip your Sig and strike the anguished guard near the temple with the heavy gun base. He crumples, joining the second one on the ground. Spinning around shows you Kai delivering a solid punch to the other bounty hunter’s face, rocking his head back on his neck with a snap. Blood spurts from his nose and he wails; one hand to his face, the other swinging his old-world weapon wildly, firing off a shot that imbeds itself into the brickwork right next to Sehun and Chen who is trying to get him to his feet.

Wincing at the over-extension Kai stumbles back a step, breathing heavily, his bloodied hand going to his side again. Hauling in a deep breath he steadies and raises his dominant hand, aiming the Beretta at the centre of the man’s exposed throat as he tries to keep his head raised to stem the bleeding. “Add one more to my list.”

You turn away as he fires, the single gunshot ringing out in the narrow space. The thick sound of a body sliding to the ground follows. When you pry your eyes open again it’s to Chanyeol’s now-cool touch to your shoulder and you have to swallow twice before you can look past the corpse to Chen standing off-balance with Sehun propped on one shoulder. Chanyeol’s voice next to you has some urgency to it. “We need to get out of here. _Now_.”

“Home,” Chen states firmly.

“Too far,” you clear your throat and try again. You can still _hear_ the steady gush of arterial blood as it trickles out of the body below you.  “It’s going to be dawn soon and we’re not making it out of the quarter until nightfall. Not across that boundary fencing with the patrols.”

“My place isn’t too far from the shop.” Chanyeol’s mouth is a thin line. “We can patch you and Kai up there and Sehun can…” he trails off, walking over to the sawed-off and scooping it up. “Come on.”

Your bad leg shakes as you step around the three prone men on the dirty gravel. As you approach him Kai bends painfully and picks up his second pistol, sliding them both into a pair of holsters underneath his tailored jacket. He looks you in the eyes. “This is what you’re getting.” He intones in a voice far steadier than should belong to someone’s who’s bleeding. “No bones about it; hunters take bounties on each other just as we do our marks. And he was telling the truth - the Feds have a price on my head. This might happen again. Are you sure you want me along for the ride?”

One of the regular guards still alive behind you coughs and retches, struggling to stand. You don’t look at him as you take Kai’s elbow and fall into step behind the rest of the group.

“I think you’re going to be exactly what we need.”

Kai’s resulting smile is the first genuine one you’ve seen cross his face all night.

 

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

Creeping pre-dawn light is just starting to make its thin, watery way through the curtains as Chanyeol unlocks his house. The front entranceway opens up into a dark, sparsely-furnished main room surrounded by tall windows and a pair of doors in one corner leading to what you presume is the rest of the residence. Without a word you all unload whatever weaponry you’re carrying onto the long bench beside the front door that separates the kitchen from the rest of the area and shoulder past it.

The house remains dim until Chanyeol at the back of your bedraggled line shuts the front door, mutters a small ‘sorry, one sec’ and clicks his fingers. Old-world gas lamps jump to life around the whole lounge, spluttering up in a wave of gold that blooms outward from where you’re all standing.

“Oh,” You can’t stop the sound that falls from your lips. You’ve only ever seen lamps in holographic history books. This is… something else. The softly pulsing glow is beautiful in a strange, hypnotic way.

“Electricity was cut off years ago.” Chanyeol makes a beeline for the couch at the corner of the room and pulls it out, creaking heavily, to form a makeshift bed. “Fuel like this is cheaper to buy.”

“Especially when you’re the one boy in town who doesn’t need matches.” Chen gives a low whistle. “I like it.” He goes to lever Sehun into the room’s overstuffed couch but Chanyeol vetoes him, motioning for the back room beyond the door.

“Put him on my bed. He’s going to want to be close to the bathroom.” Taking the other side of a very limp, very shaky Sehun, the two of them manhandle him out.

Chen looks back over one shoulder as he passes you. “I’ll be back for both of you in a moment.”

You turn to Kai who wanders over and lowers himself gingerly to the couch with a grunt, finally letting go of his side. The blood on his hand is still wet and as you watch, he struggles painfully out of his neat jacket one arm at a time. It prompts you to ask with more than a little concern, “How are you holding up?”

“I’ll be okay.” Kai makes space for you on the pull-out and awkwardly unclips his empty twin holsters one-handed, setting them down beside himself with a long breath. “You’re bleeding too. Hell of a night.”

You sink down, taking the weight off your feet. “Yeah.” You inhale, searching for the right words in the glowing air above your head as you hear the creak of bed springs from the next room indicating that Sehun has been deposited. “I really am sorry for hitting you back there. I didn’t know quite what else to do but that’s a poor reason. And no excuse. My apologies.”

A hand squeezes your bicep as Kai lays back, stretching out on the old, springy material. “We’re good.” The grip releases and you turn to look down at him; his eyes are already closed. “Apology accepted.”

Chen returns, navigating the neural-projector and coffee table it’s perched on, rolling up his sleeves and pointing in your direction as he makes for the sink. “Hey, don’t let him fall asleep just yet. We need to see to you both.”

Chanyeol calls his name and Chen halts, cuts his path off and doubles back into what you’re guessing is the bedroom. You take a moment to yank your borrowed pants down and off, tossing them to one side. Modesty be damned; this set isn’t even yours and you’re not letting Chen cut open a second pair. You can sponge the small bloodstain off later. You make sure to poke gently at Kai and receive a muffled grunt in return. He’s still conscious. Good.

The soiled bandage is somewhat rumpled by all the running around you’ve had to do and with a sigh you begin to slowly unwind it; it’s more important that Chen tend to Kai first and you can replace this on your own now. Shuffling, scraping noises grow louder from the bedroom’s direction as you work at it and Chanyeol reappears, Chen in tow, both of them towing mattresses. They toss them on the lounge floor, depart and a moment later return with different armfuls; Chanyeol with blankets and Chen with gauze and supplies.

You reach out and snag a bandage as Chen passes you on his second attempt at getting to the sink. The tape he used for the first bandage is still good so you carefully peel the bits off - and after a moment’s contemplation at where to put it since you need both hands, you stick the pieces carefully against Kai’s sleeve in a neat row. An eye cracks open.

“I feel useful already.”

You smile at your injured leg as you unwrap it. “You totally are.” Unfurling the fresh bandage you rip off a corner and dab away the fresh blood. Chen makes his way to the couch, hands sanitised, and toes at Kai.

“Unbutton. I need to see how bad it is before I can work with it.”

 Kai seems to take far longer than he should to rouse and comply with the order and that pricks at your mind as he struggles for a bit and finally manages to unbutton his dark dress shirt while still lying down. You save your tape with one hand before it disappears and help him nudge the soaked material away from his side. His hand flops away and Chen takes a look. “I’m not a healer so if it’s- _fuck_.”

You’re pretty sure your face is making an identical horrified expression to Chen’s right now. That’s not a clean wound. Jesus Christ. Kai hadn’t complained the entire way back but looking at this now you have no idea how he’s been upright, let alone walking. You thought he was only winged by the way he bore it.

The trauma is significant; the wound to Kai’s side jagged and open. Chen leans close to get a better look, face pale. “I think the bullet passed through the muscle and didn’t hit anything vital. There would be… I don’t know. Darker blood maybe if it had? I’m not sure. Shit.”

The blood-flow is sluggish now which you reverently hope is a good thing, but looking at the wound uncovered you realise just _how much_ blood Kai’s jacket and shirt had been hiding. Even his dark pants are soaked down one side now that you take the time to look closely. “We need a professional.” Your voice is faint. This isn’t a clean laser wound. Old-world projectiles were always designed for far more damage than the modern day ones. Maximum impact.

Chen hurries to unwrap some gauze and press it against the seeping wound. It’s only then when such a process is met without a flinch that you realise Kai’s been suspiciously silent since he undid his shirt. You immediately look up at his face. Underneath the tanned complexion his skin has a pale, sickly look to it. Goddammit.

“Kai,” you very carefully nudge his shoulder then realise ( _idiot_ ) he’s not going to respond to that if he just flat out didn’t register an open wound being given pressure. You dig your nails in and motion for Chen to press firmly on the wound at the same time. “ _Kai_. Wake _up_.”

Kai lurches into consciousness with the most awful indrawn breath, like a scream sucked in backwards. You immediately remove your hand from his shoulder.

“Hey. Hey, stay with us.” You take hold of his chin and try to get him to focus on your face. “We need you to stay conscious now that you’ve stopped moving. Can you do that?”

A warbled cry cracks the air from the direction of the bedroom and you can hear Chanyeol’s voice trying to calm Sehun down. You don’t remember even noticing him leave the room. You share a worried look with Chen; this is all going downhill very quickly.

Kai’s eyes drift closed again and you frantically wriggle his face. “Nono, eyes open.”

Kai draws in a slow breath and blinks open. His eyes don’t quite track to your face but he manages a tired smile. “Or what? You’ll slap me again?”

You release his chin and sit back a fraction, huffing a laugh you’re too frightened to really feel. “No I’ve done my fare share of unsolicited assault for today, thanks.”

Chen meanwhile is still frantically trying  to stem the bloodflow. “This… This isn’t going to cut it forever. I can manage basic first aid but I’m no medic. We’re going to need to take him to a hospital or something.”

“No hospitals.” Kai attempts a shake of his head. “Federal reference databases...”

Chen frowns, swapping out one soaked gauze pad for another. “I thought that was only for hybrid checks. Cross-referencing your genome for any family members, etcetera.”

You watch helplessly. _A human body has only about four litres of blood to draw on,_ your mind supplies. _That’s… Already a lot of blood there._

“No,” Kai licks his lips. They’re dry you notice; he’s badly in need of fluids. “Warrant references.”

“You’ve lost too much blood and this needs to be sterilised before it becomes infected.” Chen wriggles a hand underneath Kai’s torso, wrapping a bandage around all of it awkwardly. “We don’t have a lot of choices left.”

Chanyeol darts into the corner of your vision, moving towards the cupboards above the sink. He withdraws what sounds like a bottle of medication and spares a glance as he passes back. “Is he..?”

“We need a doctor.” You reply quickly. “Is Sehun stable yet?”

Chanyeol looks pained. “He’s got nothing on him to take for another hit so he’s in a pretty bad place for a while. But he’s not climbing the walls yet. That’ll come sooner or later.”

Another wail sounds from the bedroom. Chanyeol hesitates but you indicate back towards the other room. “You can’t do anything here unless you know a trustworthy doc. Go make sure Sehun doesn’t hurt himself.”

Kai is still slipping in and out of lucidity. His voice is faint. “No doctors.”

“You have a suggestion then?” Chen sounds at his wits’ end as Chanyeol reluctantly leaves. “Because I’m not sitting here waiting for you to bleed to death before the sun goes down.”

“I’ve already had someone I knew die on me yesterday.” You pat Kai’s cheek to keep his eyes open. _Has it really been only that long? God._ “I’m not going through that again. _None_ of us want to lose you. Hey, eyes open. Where do you go when you’re hurt normally?”

Kai’s blinks are getting longer. “Lay…” he murmurs.

You lean closer, turning your ear to his mouth. “What?”

Kai tries again. “...tablet.”

You wait for more but nothing comes. When you look back again Kai’s eyes are closed. Several attempts at rousing him provokes no further response and shooting a panicked look at Chen, you don’t know what to do next. _He’s no longer conscious._

“What did he say? I didn’t hear it.” Chen finishes with the makeshift bandage and piles more gauze on top. _The couch is probably ruined with all this blood_ , your brain adds out of nowhere. With a shake of your head you haul yourself back; don’t you _dare_ disassociate now out of fright. Not now.

“He said the words ‘Lay’ and ‘tablet’.” You reply. “I don’t know what that means. It could be some miracle pill for all I’m aware. Look, he’s unconscious now, right? Can we… I don’t know. Carry him to the nearest emergency ward?” You finish rapidly applying the tape to your own new bandage. You’ll walk on your damaged leg again. Fuck it.

Chen looks vehemently torn. “He said not to and you heard him; he was pretty adamant about it. It’s likely his background can be data-mined and with the…” he struggles for a second, “work he does he’ll be taken into Federal custody.”

You make an angry noise through your teeth. “And the alternative is what? Let him die?”

Chen kneels up and leans over Kai, one hand bracing his weight as he takes his pulse from his neck. “It’s still steady so we have a little time. We need-“ he shifts, frowns and removes the hand he’s leaning on, feeling around under where he just had it positioned. It was on Kai’s discarded jacket. “Hang on.”

Rummaging around in the material produces a small object. Your eyes widen. “Kai’s communications tablet.”

Chen sits back on his haunches and his fingers fly over the screen. You watch him work, eyes darting back to Kai’s prone form every now and again. Moving the hand you had on his cheek you let it rest gently on his damp silver hair. He has enough fluid left to perspire. That’s something. “Anything?”

Chen makes a pleased sound. “There’s a name on his contact list under ‘Lay’.”

“Call it,” you reply instantly. “What can we lose?”

Chen pauses. “Despite the fact that anyone in his contacts is likely just as shady and could conceivably think _we_ hurt him and are now holding him as bait for them?”

You wave your free hand. “We don’t have a choice. Do it. Right now we’ve got to risk it. If something awful shows up at the front door it still won’t know we have this planet’s biggest fireball with us. That at least makes it even odds.”

Chen hits the call button and raises the tablet to his ear.

~*~

Time crawls by horrendously slowly as you wait for… something to knock on the front door. The three of you rotate yourselves; one with Sehun, one with Kai and one trying to find some form of rest.

“Chen says he sounded reasonable on the tablet. Angry, but he seemed willing to listen.”

Sehun is currently the smallest ball possible in the corner of Chanyeol’s bed, covers thrown off, sweating and shaking. You keep a calming hand on his shoulder as you talk. Chanyeol mentioned quietly as you swapped over that Sehun seemed more grounded when he could feel someone touching him; proof that he wasn’t left alone and taking to his hallucinations. You’re more than happy to provide the reassurance. “He said he’d be around as soon as he could. Didn’t say where he was coming from though.”

Sehun coughs, squeezing himself into a tighter ball. “D’we know if he’s safe?”

You contemplate lying for peace of mind but decide against it. “No. Not really. Chen said he sounded furious that Kai was hurt, but he seemed to believe that we didn’t do it. He thinks.”

Sehun’s trembling hand snakes up and covers yours, squeezing once. You carefully make sure your hand stays where it is. “If we need t’fight…” he mumbles, “Don’t let me be unarmed.”

You smile thinly into the lamplight. “You can’t even see straight, let alone shoot. We appreciate the sentiment but concentrate on working through this first.”

“Y’know it won’t pass in the next few hours.” Sehun whispers sadly. “Rdium is too strong. M’sorry. So sorry.”

“It’ll be okay. Perhaps this Lay person is just Kai’s doctor. Chen described the wound pretty well so he should know what to bring.”

Sehun starts to reply but a coughing fit takes over. It deepens, developing into a hollow retching sound that makes you lean over and reach for the bucket beside the bed. Sehun lost the ability to make it to the bathroom by himself two changeovers ago.

“Sit up. Don’t throw up lying down.”

Sehun grabs the bucket weakly instead and hugs it. You drag at his shoulders stubbornly until he unfurls slightly and props himself up. The pretty rainbow colours of his hair thread through your fingers as you hold it back. When he’s finished you take the bucket and replace it on the floor. “Lie back down.  Can you stomach a little water?”

You’re met with a miserable shake of his head. He’s back to a ball now. You replace your hand on his shoulder with a silent sigh.

“We’ll figure something out when the guy gets here. No one’s getting hurt any more if we can help it.”

Sehun grunts, scratching at one arm in a circular motion. “C’nyeol’s gonna burn this place down if they shoot at him.”

You make an affirmative noise and squeeze the shoulder under your grasp. “Try and rest before we talk about that. One of us will always be here.” You spot Chen out of the corner of your eye as he slips into the room. “I’m going to swap over with Chen now. He’s here.”

Sehun tenses up at those words until he feels Chen’s hand on his arm as the other man sits on the edge of the bed. The scratching ceases. You carefully remove your own hand, navigate around him and stand up. The last thing you see as you leave the room is Chen stretching alongside Sehun, allowing as much contact as possible and whispering calming words.

Chanyeol is splayed out next to Kai on one of the mattresses as you emerge into the lounge, the ruined couch having been given up as unhygienic an hour ago, reading something on his tablet. You bend down to flick one of the blankets partially covering Kai over an exposed leg as you pass and Chanyeol gives you a thumbs up; the new sign between you three for Kai’s continued stability. Keeping him patched and warm is really all you can do as you monitor his vitals. With Chanyeol in charge of that now you make your way to one of the windows at the far side, peeling back the faded, heavy curtains. If Kai’s pulse slows any further you’ve unanimously agreed to haul him to an emergency ward, but for now you still have a little time.

The sunlight from the world outside is stark and almost blinding in it’s clarity. Yet you’re strangely troubled by the odd thought that the kind of deeds you’re engaging in right now really require darkness; almost as if you haven’t earned the right to such bright light. Not since your ship exploded in a shower of weaponry and propulsion fuel has anything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours seemed real, let alone something that has a place in the busy world you know is out there. Those kind of thoughts scratch like the dirtiest of fingers at you as you watch the pedestrians float past until you yank at the curtains again, retreating to the flickering golden light of the room. You can’t dwell on those kinds of things; living, breathing people are counting on you. Kai. Sehun. _Baekhyun_.

A sliver of the sunlight still seeping through the tall window follows your retreat doggedly, stretching out past your feet. You need air, you realise. _A moment to breathe_. A moment without those troubling thoughts. The house smells of the sick and injured; you force your feet towards the front door.

Chanyeol’s head pops up as you pass the mattresses. You manage a small smile and lower your voice.

“Just stepping out the front. I won’t move away from the door. Will be back in time to swap again.”

With a nod he sinks back down, taking Kai’s pulse again. A thumbs up and you acknowledge it, making for the door.

It closes behind you quietly and you take a few steps forward, careful not to screw with your leg. The still-damp patch on your pants could certainly use the sunlight to help dry since you basically had to put them straight back on after sponging at the bloodstain in your last free portion of the rotations.

You angle into a warm puddle of sunlight and lean back against one of the metal poles holding up the rusting tin roof that separates the end of Chanyeol’s house from the rest of the world. Beyond the steps leading down the decking are more of the morning’s early risers going about at their business and you follow their movements distractedly. The civilians around are what give you a thin enough sense of safety to be out here and you tip your head back towards the sun, trying to shake the ugly thoughts from earlier.

Your eyes drift closed for a moment in a long blink and when you open them again your retinas take a little too long to adjust, causing you to squint. _Getting old there captain,_ you think wryly to yourself as you pluck the sunglasses from your pocket and push them up your nose. The display reads 0716 and you stretch your back that’s been cramped with stress for the last few hours with a chorus of popping joints. It’s going to be a long day already, you can feel it. _Here’s to everyone making it through it alive._

Casting a glance around you try to get a feel for the area. Lay could be coming from anywhere, could look like anyone. For all you know he’s likely to be armed. You grumpily acknowledge that a better vantage point would really be from inside. Your pants will just have to dry the rest of the way from the window’s light instead. You’ve probably taken too long anyway, considering the fact that you’re going in essentially blind with this person. _A doctor can’t be awful, surely…_

If it hadn’t been for the enhanced tinting on your glasses you might have taken longer to notice it, but it shows up clearly as you turn to head back inside. A single red dot swims up your torso and settles over your heart. You freeze instantly, one hand still on the door handle. Behind the dark glasses you immediately scan the throng of people.

A figure calmly separates from the crowd filling the pathway outside and approaches. Dressed innocuously and carrying a brown bag, you doubt you could have picked him out of a line-up if you’d _known_ to look for him. Walking steadily up the couple of steps it takes to reach the decking, he extends a hand empty of weaponry and smiles. “Captain, I assume.”

You very, very slowly extend a hand of your own. The dot on your chest doesn’t waver. You flick your eyes between it and the blonde-haired stranger several times. “…Lay.”

The smile deepens, growing into an edge of something hard as the hand that folds over yours grips tightly and Lay leans in, tugging you closer as well. He speaks firmly and quietly.

“My sniper can and will drop you where you stand if it appears that I’m in any danger. His rifle is military-grade, you know what his scope is aiming at and you can be guaranteed he’s counting your heartbeat as we speak.”

All the blood in your body seems to freeze. “You’re Federation.”

Lay gives a small shake of his head. “I have no side, captain. I’m merely a doctor here to see his patient. Now, quite slowly and carefully you’re going to open the door, we’re going to enter with you first and you’re going to take me to Kai.”

You meet his eyes. “We didn’t hurt him. He’s a friend of someone inside.”

The hard edge to that smile doesn’t shift but something in Lay’s eyes softens just a fraction. “I hope you’re telling the truth. And if you are, you’ll receive my sincere apologies. But you have to understand that I’m not going to walk into an unknown building because of a call from a stranger that says Kai is wounded. Not without a little collateral.”

“A human shield, you mean. I thought doctors were supposed to _save_ lives.”

Lay lifts one shoulder, releasing your hand. “And just how many people can I save if I’m dead? I didn’t move in the same circles as hunters for this long without knowing how to keep myself breathing before I attend to one. So if there’s no threat to me then nothing will happen to you, you have my word on that.” He takes a step back and indicates the door. “Now move.”

You reach for the door handle and the red dot on your chest whisks away. You’re not naïve enough to believe that the individual behind it has done anything other than get a better angle so you keep your movements slow and deliberate. “You’re not going to want to give anyone in here a fright, I’m telling you now.”

Something you can’t read crosses Lay’s face and he nods. “Call out. Let them know you have company. It’s not in my interest to have any more bloodshed than might have already occurred.”

You shrug. “That I can do. But please keep your pet sniper on a leash in return. I’ve already been shot by a military laser and I don’t fancy repeating the experience.”

Lay’s eyes sweep you from head to foot in a quick, assessing move, hovering on both your bruised throat and damp, bulkily-bandaged leg. “Noted.”

Taking a deep breath you twist the handle, pushing the door inward. “Chanyeol, Chen,” you call into the lamp-lit room. “We have… company.”

~*~


	6. Chapter 6

At your loaded words Chanyeol is on his feet by the time you’ve crossed the threshold. You keep your voice as steady as possible, equally not wanting to cause a panic nor lull anyone into a false sense of security. It takes a surprisingly conscious effort and your eyes flick longingly to the pile of weapons on the bench near the front door as you re-enter the house. _Not close enough to grab,_ you judge with frustration. Not without provoking collateral damage of some kind. Your glasses can’t detect any sights aimed into the room but that means very little at this point in time. You don’t risk the move.

Chen appears from the adjacent bedroom as Chanyeol steps off the mattress and approaches, eyes narrowed. “You’re Lay?”

“The one and only. And that’s close enough. Stop right where you are, both of you and you won’t get hurt.”

Chanyeol freezes warily in the middle of the room. “What? Why?”

You feel a hand settle into your shoulder from behind, tugging you back a fraction. It slips over towards your neck, gently navigating past the bruised portion of your throat until all five slender fingers can grip your chin and keep you in place. It’s a strangely considerate move for someone using you as a literal meat shield, so you keep still.

Chen glares. “Let her go.”

“He has eyes on the room.” You answer Chanyeol’s question. This much you do understand, at least. “He wants to see to Kai but he won’t do it without assuring he’s not in any danger.”

“By _threatening_ us in turn?” Chen shoots a venomous look at the figure behind your head. “How many men do you have here with you?”

“Just one.” You can hear the thickly layered confidence in Lay’s voice. “But that’s all I need. Please trust me when I say that you won’t want to test him on this, even with the three of you.”

Chen takes a slow, defiant step closer, then another, then another until he’s on the other side of the mattress, both men bracketing Kai. “That’s a lot of talk from a man who I can plainly see _isn’t_ armed.”

“I don’t need to be. Only he does.”

“Who?”

“Turn around and see for yourself.”

You immediately swing your eyes behind Chanyeol and Chen to the back of the room; to the crack in the curtains you stupidly left open earlier… Shit.

A figure fills the space you can see of the window; unmoving, covered head to toe in black combat fatigues. Even the shock of hair you can make out under the cap is midnight. A pair of kohl-ringed eyes burn above the mask that covers the lower portion of his face. _If looks could kill…_

As the three of you watch the man extends a hand, one finger of the claw-tipped gloves he’s in possession of sheering a slow, perfect circle in the window next to the latch. With a crack of shattering pane he pushes one fist through the weakened portion and unlocks the tall window, calmly stepping through as if he’s entering an open shop.

_Hang on…_ The muzzle of a high-grade sniper rifle sticks out above the figure’s head; it’s now strapped to his back. You glance at the weapons on the bench again but this time Lay notices. The hand on your chin tightens.

“I suggest you re-think that option, captain.”

Chen’s lip curls. “There’s a Federal insignia on your boy there. I don’t care how the fuck you know Kai, we don’t want Feds involved. Both of you get out. We’re taking him to a hospital.”

You jerk your head up as best you can to look at Lay. “You said you weren’t Federation.”

Lay doesn’t move despite Chen’s demand. “I said _I_ wasn’t Federation. Xiumin here,” he raises his chin in the newcomer’s direction.“He’s… a long story. But if you can trust me, you can certainly trust him; he’s here purely as my protection and I have no allegiance to any governmental body. Just don’t attempt to harm me and he won’t kill all three of you in under fifteen seconds.” Lay flashes a bright smile. “Deal?”

Chanyeol’s hands have slowly started to ball into fists at his sides. Warning sign. “I’m not in the mood to trust either of you. Like Chen said, get the fuck out. We don’t want Federal help.”

Lay sighs like you’re all small, particularly dimwitted children. “Any government or private hospital will run Kai’s name and face against their databases and with what this kid has done, trust me they’ll have him locked up before he regains consciousness. Now you can either all step away from him and let me do my job or we can stand here and talk about pointless shit until he _dies_.”

You return your eyes to the room. “We have your word that Xiumin won’t try anything if you’re allowed to work undisturbed?”

At his name Xiumin crosses his arms, black synthetic claws coming to rest on each opposite bicep. His eyes remain fixed entirely on Lay, waiting for the answer.

“Xiumin will do exactly as I instruct and won’t touch any of you as long as I remain safe. Break our agreement however and none of you will be left to talk about what you saw here today.”

“I call bullshit.” Chanyeol growls.

“Clock is ticking, my friends.” When no one moves Lay’s hand drops from your chin and he makes a frustrated sound, shoving you a step forward. “Right. I can see we’re going to get nowhere fast without a goodwill gesture of my own to kick things off. So here, have your captain back. I want all three of you in the far corner of the room. Now.”

“Like sitting ducks?” Chanyeol’s shoulders tense and he’s practically vibrating on the spot. “So your black ops boogey-man can have easier aim?”

You hear the first twinge of anger in Lay’s voice. “I require room to work. No one is to come within touching distance of me. It’s one of my stipulations.”

Crossing the length of the room to Chanyeol you slip your arm around one of his, testing subtly with your own skin. From his wrists down you can feel a steady heat pulsing. “If we have his word then lets just get on with it.” At his sharp, angry look you tug on the arm in your grasp, moving for the indicated corner of the room and squeezing pointedly below Chanyeol’s elbow. _Just because we don’t have guns doesn’t mean we’re helpless,_ you attempt to convey with a deliberate look _._ “We’re wasting time that Kai doesn’t have. Let’s go.”

Without dispersing the heat he’s building, Chanyeol reluctantly allows himself to be moved and you meet Chen in the corner near the bedroom door. It puts a good few feet between you all and Kai – despite your calm words your heartbeat now kicks up a notch; he’s vulnerable now. You’re sure Chanyeol has good enough aim to get at least one solid fireball at Xiumin but Lay’s confidence in his companion’s yet-unseen skill set unsettles you. He’s not even palming a weapon yet Lay seems secure in the knowledge that he’s now firmly protected enough to approach Kai and settle his brown bag down beside the mattress.

Chen takes an unconscious half-step towards Kai as Lay gently kneels down. In the space of a heartbeat Xiumin sidesteps and positions himself between your group and Lay, facing you all down. You grab Chen’s arm with your free hand and keep him in place.

Peering around Xiumin’s figure you try and see what’s so damn important that Lay needs a buffering circumference of several meters. It’s true that he doesn’t know any of you or have reason to trust your assurances of not having harmed Kai, but to have a… You have no idea quite what to call Xiumin… Federal? ex-Federal? sharpshooter as a bodyguard?  You’ve never heard of a Federal agent operating under a civilian. _They don’t exactly hire out to private sectors…_ None of this makes much sense.

And then Lay opens his bag.

Xiumin doesn’t obstruct your view as much as keep a close eye on the three of you so you’re able to clearly see when Lay withdraws several pieces of medical cloth, a long needle and thread and a thin, pearl-handled knife.

“Oi!” Your grip on Chen slips and you fumble for something to hold onto again to stop yourself from running over there. You snag his sleeve instead. “What’s with the blade?” _What the fuck kind of doctor…_

Lay puts the knife aside on one of the pieces of cloth he’s plucked from the bag along with the needle and thread. Methodical, precise. “I’m not going to stab him,” he responds idly; a parent reassuring a child. “Don’t panic.”

The spike of heat to your right informs you that you’re not the only one reacting to the sight of the knife. You nudge Chanyeol and it ebbs back down again a fraction. If Xiumin registers it the situation is no longer at your advantage. _Stay calm_.

Lay pulls an antiseptic wash from his bag and douses both hands, holding them aloft until they dry. Only then does he begin unwinding Chen’s makeshift bandages. “Has he regained consciousness since you phoned me?”

“No,” Chanyeol replies. “We’ve been keeping watch over him.”

“Did he take any fluids before he passed out?”

“Not in the last hour. He might have drank something at the club but he wasn’t intoxicated. He was working.”

Lay swiftly checks Kai’s pulse rate, temperature and rolls back his eyelids to get a look at his pupils. Xiumin speaks for the first time without looking back at Lay.

“How much is he going to need?”

Lay is bent over, assessing the wound itself. “A decent amount. Bullet missed everything vital but this is the worst I’ve seen him in a while.”

Xiumin makes an affirmative sound as if this all means something significant to him. You narrow your eyes. “How much of what? Antibiotics? Plasma?”

Lay sits back and picks up the needle, letting the long line of thread lie flat against his palm and down his wrist. With the other hand he lifts the knife and presses it against where the thread sits, drawing it down in a swift slash. Blood coats the needle and thread.

“Hey hey _hey_!” You shove forward as Chanyeol raises his hand, a fistful of white-hot fire bursting to life. “What the _fuck_ are you-“

Before you can finish Xiumin moves. Faster than any of you can follow he drops his crossed arms and closes the gap between you and Chanyeol, a pair of silver blades sliding from hidden wrist sheaths. One knife finds your throat, the other Chanyeol’s and you both barely yank yourselves to a halt before you slice your own necks open.

“No, Xiumin.”

Lay’s voice sounds strange. Xiumin immediately withdraws his hands, pirouetting back in a perfectly executed move as if he weren’t just propelling himself forward with the singular intent to separate your heads from your necks half a second before. But you’re not looking at him now.

Nearby you hear Chen’s hushed voice uttering exactly what you’re thinking.

“My god…”

Lay is perched on his knees, face turned towards you. His eyes are golden; radiating a light so piercing you can almost see the bones backlit inside his skull. Chanyeol instantly flicks off his handful of flame as he comes to the same instant realisation as you all.

“Jesus, why didn’t you just _say_ you were a hybrid?”

Lay turns his gaze back towards Kai, slowly pulling the needle and it’s attached thread through the blood on his palm. Once coated the items flash a similar gold hue for a single heartbeat and then dim again. He sets to work.

“For the same reason I didn’t come here without my protection. Nor want you anywhere near me while I work. I’m not in the habit of trusting _anyone,_ embers.”

Chanyeol prickles. “Even other hybrids?”

“Not even hybrids.” Lay chuckles softly. “Do you know what a single drop of my blood is worth to the Federation? To _any_ government on any planet in the known solar system?”

“You have the healing genome.” Chen’s words tumble out in an awed rush. “That’s the only explanation. The rarest mutation of all; it’s got something like a one in a billion chance of occurring. There’s only been one other known case in the last hundred years.” He shifts slightly, glancing over to you. “My buyer? The scientist I was telling you about doing research into the macromolecules in base alien DNA? She told me about it once.”

“And what happened to him? The hybrid?” Lay sounds very much like he knows the answer but is educating the rest of you poor cretins.

Chen pauses long enough that both you and Chanyeol peer at him. He looks stricken.

“They discovered him hiding on an outer ring planet. No one knows who tipped the Feds off but they captured him and chained him up in a lab on Alcatraz. Hooks through his wrists and ankles. Kept him barely alive intravenously with the intent of bleeding him steadily over the course of a decade. For… Governmental research purposes.”

Chanyeol’s face folds into a furious scowl. “And did they?”

“Not… Exactly.”

You close you eyes for a moment. “What happened?”

“His lover was a contractor attached to the local ring’s cartel. With their help she infiltrated the unit that had him captured. To save him she did the only thing she could.”

“She killed him,.” Opening your eyes reveals the room again in all its bloody glory. “Didn’t she?”

“She managed to burn his corpse to break down any usable DNA before she was captured. And subsequently executed.”

Chanyeol turns away, walking towards the broken window. Xiumin tracks his movement but lets him go unhindered. The twin knives have again disappeared.

Lay keeps his attention on Kai during the whole exchange, slowly and methodically threading the needle through his open wound, every now and again leaning closer and carefully pressing a fingertip’s worth of blood to a particularly jagged section. Wherever it touches the skin and muscle begins to reform, slowly knitting back together like nothing you’ve ever seen. The thread tugs the ripped edges of skin back together and holds them in place long enough for the healing molecules to work. Occasionally Lay pauses to re-wet the instrument against his palm. “I’m nobody’s lab rat. Nor do I have any intention of ever being such a thing. Now do you understand my overly-cautious approach to this whole situation? I risked coming here only because Kai is a friend.”

“No one goes near your crazy cool DNA, gotcha.” You chance a look at Chanyeol who is still staring out the window, resettling himself steadily. Xiumin’s presence all of a sudden makes a lot more sense. Only…

“Why a Federal sniper?”

Lay makes a neat knot at the end of the thread and snaps it off, placing the needle back into his bag. The knife is wiped clean and locked away too, along with the gauze used. “That’s a story for Xiumin to tell you if he feels comfortable enough.” Lay folds his wet hand into a fist, fingers to palm. When he opens it again the self-inflicted wound is gone. He wipes down Kai’s side and places the now-clean hand against it, concentrating on something you can’t see. A heartbeat’s worth of glow pulses softly and then Lay withdraws and sits back on his haunches. “Kai should regain consciousness before it gets dark. Give him steady fluids and a red meat compound block mixed with a vegetable one if you have it. He’s going to need the iron and vitamins.”

“Wait, you’re not staying until he wakes up?” You’re aware your voice sounds a little high-pitched, but you’ve got to be sure Kai will be okay. And this walking miracle of a man can’t just leave… Can he? “You told us what you are; you obviously believe when we say we’re not going to spill your story to the nearest government official. Can you… Stay for a bit? Please? If nothing else I’m sure Kai would want to thank you when he wakes up.”

The golden light dims from Lay’s eyes and he blinks several times as if coming back to himself. When he speaks his voice has returned to its normal timbre. “If you wish. I’m not exactly... used to such a request.”

“I wonder why,” Chen mutters, eyeing Xiumin who stares back unerringly. “Can’t possibly be the friendly company you keep.”

You tug once on his sleeve that you’ve been gripping this whole time before letting it go. “Don’t poke the kitty, he has claws.”

“More than a few apparently,” Chen replies lowly, stepping away and around Xiumin. “I take it we can move around the house now that your blood is safely back in your body and you understand that we’re not going to bottle you up and sell you off to the bad guys?”

Lay clips his bag closed and stands. “Yes, as you like. Tell me though - who hurt Kai? You’re all far too recklessly protective of him for it to have been you. That much I can see.”

“We’ll swap you one long story for another in a little while,” you supply, inching out of the corner and around the side of Xiumin. The bedroom door is nearby and you motion towards it. “But first if we can ask a little more of you we have another person who could use some help. He’s not wounded but he’s also a friend. He went too long without a hit to help us out and he’s in a pretty bad state right now.”

Xiumin’s eyebrows raise, merging with his dark fringe.

Chen shoots him a dark ‘don’t say _anything_ ” look as he crosses past. “We’ll all stay outside the room if you really want Lay, but I’m letting him know you’re coming first. He was hallucinating earlier.”

Lay moves closer, almost up beside Xiumin. “If he’s an addict in withdrawal my blood won’t be necessary. I can ease the toxins from his body if he’ll let me touch him, so you can stay in the room if that helps him refrain from lashing out.”

Chen pauses in the open doorway. “Suppose it’s too much to ask that your bodyguard stay outside? I don’t want him terrified.”

Lay shakes his head with a smile. “Non-negotiable.”

Chen sighs and holds up a hand. “One sec,” before disappearing inside.

You make your way over to Chanyeol and ever so lightly touch his elbow, keeping your voice low. “You okay?”

He pokes at the broken edges of the window absently. “My whole life I’ve known what I was,” he mutters. “What was in my DNA. And just how quickly I would be arrested, tagged and gagged for it if I used my abilities at the wrong time or place and happened not to be able to fight my way out of it. But I’ve never heard of one of us being tortured like… that.”

Moving your hand you delicately nudge his fingers from the sharp edges of the glass until he drops the digits away from it. “I hadn’t heard that story before either. Everyone hates that this is the way things are now. I remember my father telling me stories _his_ grandparents had told him of old-Earth before the First War. There was no classification system, no genetic mutations. Everyone just… Existed.”

Chanyeol huffs a laugh, misting the window for a fraction of a second. “They still fought each other though. I remember reading about that in school. I don’t think we’re even capable as a species to live in peace. It’s not in our nature. Maybe… I don’t know. Maybe the mission to EXO-12 just finally gave us something to pit our rage against all as one. And with that threat mostly nullified after the war, we’ve returned to looking inward for our battles again.” He runs a hand through his candy floss hair. “Wow, listen to me get all philosophical here. I’ll shut up now.”

You have to look up to meet his eyes. “I find no fault in what you’re saying. You’re probably more right than we’ll ever know. Doesn’t hurt to think out loud.”

One side of Chanyeol’s mouth quirks. “Yeah, sadly no one pays me to ramble on about history and our continued shitty mistakes as a species. You’d think we’d have become smarter when we realised we weren’t alone in the universe.”

“You’re giving humanity far too much credit.”

The other side of his mouth lifts and finally there’s a full smile. It makes you return it, pleased.

Chanyeol takes a deep breath, shaking himself. “Right. I need to find something to patch this up. I’ve got spare glass panes at the shop but a board should suffice for now. I-”

The whole world abruptly heaves sideways, lifting and dropping with a sickening rumble that shakes the very walls. On the other side of the room the stack of weaponry topples from the bench, clattering loudly across the shaking floor. The couch pitches. Chanyeol dives for Kai, bracing and shoving the skidding couch out of the way as it tumbles towards him. You throw yourself away from the window as a splitting crack ricochets up the broken pane, spiderwebbing from floor to ceiling. _What the fuck…_

Chanyeol drops, covers Kai with his body and throws out a hand to you. Lurching across the heaving floor you manage to grab hold and he tugs you down, dragging the thick spare mattress over all your heads.

“Since when is this planet prone to _earthquakes_?” You yell into the blanket near Kai’s shoulder. The ground below the floorboards seems to rumble like a very angry, suddenly very awoken dragon.

“It’s _not_.” Chanyeol’s words from near the back of your neck are terse with something you can’t place. It takes you a second before you realise that’s fear you can hear in his voice. _Can’t burn earthquakes into submission._ “The core was judged stable before terra-formation began. This doesn’t happen.”

You hunker down between Kai and Chanyeol, trying for a line of sight to the bedroom that you can’t quite manage while stuck under the mattress. You have to trust that the others have managed to secure themselves somehow.

It takes several minutes (which feels like an eternity as the plasterwork flakes dangerously above your heads and the beams creak) but the shuddering, heaving ripples eventually subside, leaving you and Chanyeol to slowly unfurl and poke your heads out of the makeshift shelter.

“The hell?” Plasterwork chips of paint puff off the mattress the both of you heave it off yourselves. You chance a look down at Kai; he’s still out for the count but unharmed. Another rumble echoes in the distance. _Aftershocks?_

“No idea.” Chanyeol stands, helping you up too. The wobble in your bad leg reminds you that you have one last favour to ask of Lay before he leaves.

“Let’s check the bedroom. C’mon.”

Chanyeol jogs in first, sliding around the corner with a hand on the doorframe. “Everyone okay in here?”

Chen looks up from where he’s tucked protectively against Sehun, the pair of them a cramped bundle in the corner of the bed. “What happened? Was that a quake?”

“Seems very much like it.” You scan the room but here’s no one else. “Where’s Lay and Xiumin?”

“Here.”

You pivot at Xiumin’s voice and catch both him and Lay emerging from the bathroom looking rattled. “No one’s hurt?”

“No,” Lay glances over to Chen who sits up, giving Sehun space. “Is Kai okay?”

“He’s fine. Still zonked out.” Chanyeol walks over and eyes a thick crack in the ceiling above the bed. It trails towards the bathroom, carving a hefty chunk out of the cornicing. “But I think it might be safer for us all to be out in the larger room for now. Can Sehun be moved?”

“Not yet. I was trying to get him settled when the quake happened.” Chen reaches over and places a hand on Sehun’s arm, squeezing the tense muscle there. He tries to get the other man’s attention but all you can see is how much Sehun is a tight knot, shaking. Chen sighs, motioning for Lay. “As good a time as any. He’s pretty incoherent. Just be careful.”

Lay waits for Chen to vacate the spot beside Sehun but when he doesn’t move, Lay perches on the edge of the covers. Xiumin automatically circles to the foot of the bed.

Chen shifts just enough that Lay has room to reach past him and place a palm flat against Sehun’s sweating forehead. Sehun flinches and jerks his head back at the touch. Without hesitation Lay adjusts his position on the mattress and instructs Chen to hold him still for a moment.

Chanyeol moves in and leans across the pillow. He takes an arm, Chen the other and under Xiumin’s careful gaze the pair of men keep up a soothing monologue to their friend as Lay settles his hand down once more.

This time the touch holds. Lay’s eyes ignite, his hand pulses and Sehun takes the first easy breath you’ve heard him manage in hours. It leaves him in a deep sigh and he drags in another. His muscles loosen and as you all watch he slowly unfurls from the pain-filled ball he’s been in for almost the whole day. His hands unclench. Then with Chen and Chanyeol’s help he rolls over, settles back against the pillow and opens bleary eyes.

It takes him a moment to focus. By the time he does Lay has removed his hand.

“Might want to back up,” Chen mutters. “He has a tendency to swing first and ask questions later.”

“What the _fuck_ ,” Sehun scrambles to sit up, gaze locked on Lay’s eerily-illuminated eyes.

The hybrid immediately recalls his power and stands up. “Sorry for the fright.”

Only Chen and Chanyeol’s solid grip keeps Sehun prone. “Easy there,” Chen moves into his sight line. “We’re all here. It’s okay. This is Lay.”

Sehun’s gaze flicks between Lay and Xiumin, zeroing in on the red Federal insignia emblazoned across the sniper’s shoulder. He immediately struggles in the hold both men have on him. “What the hell is a _Fed_ doing here?”

“Wait up, this is Xiumin. He’s Lay’s guardian.” Chanyeol applies more of his weight to keep Sehun prone. “Settle down. Lay says he’s not here in an official capacity. You were pretty out of it by the time they arrived.”

Xiumin hooks his thumbs into his utility belt and stares Sehun down.

“Uh okay,” you motion for Lay, feeling the atmosphere in the room rapidly descending. “Thank you for pulling him out of it but would you both now mind stepping back out until we can explain things to him? I promise he’ll be grateful for your help once we do, he just needs to be brought up to speed. Then we’ll move him out into the lounge.”

Lay dips his head and moves for the door. “We can do that.” Xiumin breaks the staring thing he has going on and silently falls into step behind him. “I’ll go check on Kai.”

“Thank you.” You turn back to the bundle of men on the bed, both Chen and Chanyeol already talking low and rapidly, filling Sehun in on what he’s just missed. You decide it’s a good time as any to duck out. As you do, Sehun’s voice floats out on your heels.

“What do you mean _earthquake_?”

You smile to yourself and take a second to take stock of the messed up living room. Lay acknowledges you with a nod from where he’s kneeling down on the mattress to take Kai’s temperature. You circle around him towards the kitchen, acutely aware of Xiumin’s looming presence.

The hydro-vault is a decent size and you open the door, taking stock of the supplies inside. Chanyeol looks to have everything you’ll need for when Kai wakes up as well as enough blocks to feed the rest of you tonight. _That’s something_.

The fallen weapons are scattered along the entranceway floor and you bend awkwardly in an attempt to retrieve them one by one. Your leg is being painfully uncooperative again after your ungainly dive under the mattress and finally after a couple of embarrassing attempts you feel a presence at your shoulder.

A black gloved hand reaches into your peripheral and plucks one of the nearby Berettas off the floorboards. Xiumin silently moves about, scooping up the remaining guns and laser, finally depositing his armful back on the bench.

“Thanks,” you wince. “Really appreciate that.”

“It’s nothing,” Xiumin’s dark eyes are still the only visible feature on his masked face and you rapidly try to scan them, looking for… What? Some kind of a sign? A flicker of evidence as to what side he’s truly on? What _was_ a highly-trained Federal agent doing fiercely guarding an exceedingly rare hybrid, knowing with one hundred percent certainty that if his actions were discovered it would guarantee he’d be killed by his own unit on sight? _All of the above_.

Xiumin’s eyes reveal nothing more than an even, blank stare above his mask. They do however flick down to your leg. “Get Lay to have a look at that.”

You hesitate. You’d planned on asking him but it seems like the healer has done so much for your little group already. And asked for nothing in return.

Xiumin’s eyes roll and be grabs your arm, hauling you over the few feet between the bench and the edge of the mattress pile. “Lay,”

Lay looks up. “Yes?”

Xiumin’s grip releases. “Fix her leg and do something about that godawful trauma to her throat.”

Lay stands, moving off the mattress and into your space. With a smile he reaches out a deliberately slow hand, stopping just before your neck. “May I?”

You’re acutely aware of the fact that Xiumin’s wickedly sharp blade had been zeroing in on that exact spot less than an hour before - and that said sniper is about a foot behind you. Swallowing brings your skin into momentary contact with Lay’s palm.

“Yes.”

Lay’s hand closes delicately over your throat and his eyes spark into tiny supernovas. As they do the thought strikes you that _this_ is what you need.

This is the kind of sunlight you could all be comfortable in.

~*~


	7. Chapter 7

With one careful step after another you manage to navigate the tangled mess of legs sprawled about the lounge room, mercifully all without dropping any of the protein compound blocks you’re holding. Tossing one to Chen who is dangling off the clean corner of the couch, you wait a second for him to pass it down to Sehun half-lying on the floor below him with his back against the chair’s base before you throw him a second to keep.

Dropping one to Chanyeol on the mattress nearby goes barely noticed as he’s too engrossed in whatever he’s looking at on his tablet to actually catch it. One of his hands absently pats about the covers in a searching movement until Kai’s reaches out instead and captures the bar, poking it up under his nose. Chanyeol snags it in his teeth and holds the wrapped block in his mouth, unwilling to pause in his ministrations to actually eat it. The sight makes you smile.

Lurching carefully around the bundle of covers lying haphazardly over both their legs, you hand two pre-prepared bars down to Kai. He takes them with a tired, grateful look, slowly sitting up and leaning back against Chanyeol’s side in an attempt to stomach the solid food. The hybrid absently ruffles his hair without taking his eyes off the tablet.

Finally you take several spongy steps across the uneven mattresses to the other side of them, lobbing a bar safely to Lay over the top of Xiumin’s head, both of them sitting within talking distance of the others. Dark eyes follow the bar’s movement and you’re strangely tempted to do it again to see if it’d be like pointing a laser at a cat.

 _Now isn’t the time for games._ You peel and stick the final bar between your teeth and shuffle off the mattresses, thunking your bare feet across the floorboards to the kitchen. The soft chatter from the lounge makes the room feel homely and coupled with the freshly healed muscle in your leg, there’s a soft warmth in your chest for the first time in days.

 _We’re not the walking wounded anymore. We might just make it through this._ You toss the wrapper from your bar into the trash and lean across the bench on your elbows, taking a bite and eyeing the room silently. Sehun bounces his crinkled wrapper off the back of Chanyeol’s head when his request for a blanket goes unnoticed. It makes Chen snigger and when Lay is too busy asking a question of Kai to bother handing over the bundle of free blanket by his side, Xiumin wads it up and tosses it over instead, smacking Sehun in the face and leaving him covered from head to foot in light blue material. Sehun yanks it off and glares but Chen reaches a hand down, flicking one ear lightly before sliding off the couch to tug the cover over them both against the late afternoon chill seeping in from the boarded window.

_I’ve seen worse, you know. As far as this universe goes they’re not half bad._

You shift, resting your chin on your hand. _Thanks for the judgement. Ever so glad they pass your standards._

Baekhyun rests a hip against the bench and crosses his arms, watching the group play _. Hey, don’t get grouchy at me. Isn’t that the definition of crazy? Getting angry at the voice in your head?_

_You’re a projection of the coping mechanism my brain is constantly using to not break down screaming at the events from the past few years. So you’re not exactly what I’d call just a ‘voice in my head’._

Baekhyun shrugs. _Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night. I’m not here to judge. Although,_ he looks down at himself, _I’ve seen you on the ship at night; you usually talk to your father when you’re disassociating. Why picture me this time?_

_I don’t know. Probably because I miss you, dolt. I’m used to having you around when things get bad and now it’s the craziest it’s been in a while and you’re not here. I’m floundering a bit._

_It won’t be long now._ Baekhyun’s voice is soft, reassuring. _I know you’re working to get me out._

You smile faintly. _Of course you know. You’re my own thoughts._

_I’m your brain trying to comfort you. It’s been a long couple of days. You’re going to need your strength. Rest would be a good idea tonight; you’re not going to work better when tired and the caffeine supplements in those bars will only last so long._

_You’re right, I know,_ you concede. _But I’ll come and get you, I promise. We’re not leaving you to rot there. I swear it._

 _I believe you. You and I’ve been through a helluva lot of stuff but there’s never been anything we haven’t come out the other side of. I know that much._ Baekhyun looks back from the others towards you as Kai quietly attempts to palm his second block off to Xiumin and gets caught, receiving a stern talking to from Lay for skipping out on his food. _But don’t you think you should get back to them? Standing here hiding inside your mind isn’t helping any of you. You know you shouldn’t do this in the middle of the day. It’s a dangerous habit to slip into._

You sigh. _It’s safe in here._

Baekhyun pushes off the bench and gives you a serious look. _It’s safer with them out there. C’mon, it’s time._

You allow yourself one last look at his kind face and watch him nod reassuringly at you. With a deep breath you blink slowly. When you open them again the room swims into view, Baekhyun is gone and you hear Chen.

“You know, you _can_ take off that mask and eat with us. It won’t kill you.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“No.”

“Lay? Is he always like this?”

The healer’s laughter fills the room.

~*~

Deep sleep alludes you. Nightmares are fairly common in your non-REM state but you’ve just managed to turn this one around to where you’re playing a neural plug-in game with Baekhyun when you feel something jostling your shoulder.

_I’m winning, bugger off._

You shrug at it and return to your turn but the touch persists, turning into a rough jostling that you can’t ignore. You crack your eyes open, scowling.

“Whassit?”

The breadth of the shoulders hovering over you in the dark lets you know its likely Chanyeol. You push him back a bit, scrub a hand over your eyes and his profile swims into view, backlit by the holo-projector that’s lit up in the corner of the lounge.

“You need to see this.”

You let out a breath, screw your eyes closed for a beat and gather the strength to look at whatever it is. Feels like you’ve only managed a couple of hours but knowing how crappy your rest was, it may well have been longer. You go to lever the blanket off yourself, have to pause to reposition a heavy arm that you think might belong to Sehun off your side and wriggle out until you tumble off the edge of the mattress pile. With a yawn you comb a hand through your hair and inhale, clearing your sleep-fogged brain. “What’s so important?”

Chanyeol looks like he’s torn between two warring emotions. He’s still clutching his tablet and you wave a hand at it, keeping your voice low. “Have you even been to bed?”

He shakes his head like that’s the least important question of the night, grabbing your wrist and tugging you over to the holo-projector. “I was in contact with one of my friends who might know of a ship, but ignore that for now. Look. The news will come back on in a sec.”

You focus blearily on the holo-projector and catch the last half a minute of the ever-repetitive governmental communication before the headline broadcast flashes into view and a woman begins talking.

“Reports from officials continue to confirm that the raid conducted earlier this afternoon netted at least a dozen hybrid fugitives of the state. Conducted simultaneously across several sectors in conjunction with local Federal law enforcement officers, the seizure of illegal fugitives has been heralded as a breakthrough in zone clearing.”

Before your eyes flash shots taken from what look like Federal neural displays. Security systems break, doors are kicked in and in a jumble of heavily armed bodies the agents swarm what looks like a residential apartment complex. The newsreader continues calmly over the top as people inside the room scream and jolt into panicked movement.

“Nominated anonymously as unregistered individuals in several tipoffs from citizens in the neighbourhood, the nest of hybrids utilising the block of apartments in the rogue quarter was subsequently raided this afternoon in an operation applauded by many in the planet’s state department.”

Several sentinel cyborgs loom into view as the terrified men and women attempt to flee the rooms, miniguns loaded and fully armed. With a frown you lean closer to the projection as one shoots through a beaded curtain separating the main room from a bathroom. “I’ve seen something like this before. Wait. Pause it.”

At the noise several of the men behind you have started to rouse and you fumble your way back to them in the semi-dark, reaching for the nearest limbs that you think belong to Kai and Chen who are closest to the edge. “Guys. Everyone get up.”

Several ruffled heads raise and you motion for Chanyeol to rewind the broadcast. Within a few minutes the whole group are squinting, huddled in blankets around the projector. The chill midnight wind whistles eerily through the cracks in the nearby window as you tell Chanyeol to press play. Everyone tenses at the start of the broadcast but you feel Sehun and Chen stiffen significantly the moment the cyborgs come into frame.

“We encountered one of those before.” Chen clears the sleep from his voice and continues. “On our way to find you Chanyeol. It was situated at the border between the quarters.”

Sehun points at the blood red insignia on one of the sentinel’s shining chests as it swings its gun at the huddled pile of hybrids corralled in the corner. “Yeah brand new just like these, right down to the fresh paint and armaments.”

You frown as the broadcast closes out with a slow pan across the faces of the bleeding, horrified people as they attempt to shrink further into the corner they’ve been rounded up into. Almost all are crying, clutching at each other. “Chen, you said the other day that there were heaps of Federal officers being offloaded at all the transport sectors right?”

Chen winds the blanket he has around his and Kai’s shoulders a little tighter. “Yeah. Been seeing them for almost a week now. We have way too many here for it to be routine.”

“So they’ve been planning this. Setting it up. This raid might be just the first of many.”

Sehun shifts. “That sentinel we accidentally tripped on was way further out than this raid. It was on the damn border. There’s no way it would have been needed in what happened this afternoon.” His expression folds into dawning comprehension. “Unless it was there in anticipation of something far more widespread.”

A shadow shifts at the back of your huddle. “Cypher.” Xiumin’s voice sounds like he’s swallowed glass.

You all turn in the darkness to look at him. The only one not sitting under a blanket, the light from the completed broadcast flickers across his obscured features like static, lending him a ghostly appearance.

Chanyeol squints at him. “What did you say?”

Xiumin sucks in a breath, looking over all your heads and focusing on a point on the wall behind you. “Cypher. A high council issued, governmentally funded think tank first brought to life nearly a year ago. Meticulously designed, mapped out and designated eyes-only, it was the first step in seeing if a zone-wide hybrid cleanse could be achieved. It was never supposed to be activated.”

“What the fuck do you mean by _cleanse_?”

Xiumin snaps his gaze back to you all. “Raids. Just like that one. On a city-wide scale. Arrests. Containment. Collaring. Deportation. You name it, Cypher is equipped to do it.” He sits back on his haunches, back ramrod straight. Military perfect. The only thing that gives him away is the worried tilt to his eyes. “No roll out date or specific target location was ever issued though; it was deemed too expansive, too gigantic to pull off. The last I heard it had been scrapped.”

Sehun waves an angry arm at the screen. “Your info is apparently out of fucking date.”

A frown appears along Xiumin’s forehead. He runs a hand across the mask covering his jaw. “A program like this has a very small window in which to be effective. If it’s been allowed to be broadcast then they don’t fear losing potential captives; there will be more raids and they’ll happen quickly. This whole quarter is going to be locked down.” His eyes flick to Lay, worried. “Eventually nowhere here will be safe.”

Kai sits up straighter. “Timeframe. Give us an estimate. We need numbers. A week?”

Xiumin drags his eyes from Lay back to the group. “Days.”

*~*

It’s still dark outside. Chen has the raid broadcast silently on loop, looking for something -anything- that might jump out and be of use. Chanyeol is glued once more to his tablet, pacing with it to his ear as he tries to get more details about a possible vessel out of his friend.

There’s soft cadence of snoring coming from the middle of the room; Kai tried valiantly to stay awake but succumbed back to his body’s much-needed sleep an hour ago and Sehun is keeping him company, the weary pair allowed the rest they deserve. Lay and Xiumin are off to one side talking in low, fast tones. You’re watching them with the most interest.

Xiumin’s body language where he stands is tense and you can see him flicking between quick bursts of speech and rigid, short shakes of his head; it looks like he’s strongly against whatever Lay is saying. The exchange continues until Lay places a gentle hand on Xiumin’s tightly crossed arms and says something that appears final. Whatever it is shuts Xiumin up but he looks vehemently unhappy about it. You’re itching to ask what’s going on but Chen calls your name.

“Come take a look at this for me. What do you think?”

You make your way over to the holo-projector and crouch down. “What’ve you got?”

“It might be nothing. I’ve watched this stupid thing a dozen times.” Chen presses his fingertips to his eyes and tried again. “But something just struck me. Here, watch this.”

You focus on the screen and the jerky neural display footage. It flicks about the place and you’re once again bombarded with the terrified people being hunted throughout the rooms of the apartment by officers and cyborgs. “Nothing more than last time. What am I looking for?”

Chen points to the retinal display ticking away in the top corner of the footage. “Up there. This raid was conducted early yesterday afternoon.”

“Okay,” you attempt to make sense of how this is something of note and fail. “The newscaster said as much. Why is the time relevant?”

“What else happened early yesterday afternoon at almost exactly that time?”

You frown, then your eyes widen. “The quake.”

Chen nods. “At exactly the same time the Cypher raids were being conducted this planet -which has been dubbed stable for as long as I can remember- experienced an earthquake. Coincidence?”

“Chanyeol did say the core was tested before terra-formation,” you reply slowly.

“Mhmm.”

“So you’re saying what? That the quake was caused by some kind of hybrid? Why?”

Chen shrugs. “In reaction to Cypher?” At your doubtful look he shifts, turning towards you. “Think about it. All the video shown on this broadcast is of a certain timeframe; I’ve checked and re-checked. There’s a specific cut off in all the footage after this certain time here,” he points to the final frame. “And if my memory is correct that’s right before the shocks started. But they’re deliberately not showing the quake. Maybe the hybrid that caused it was amongst those they were after?”

That sparks something and you spin back to the holo-projector. “Wait, wait. If that’s the case… Something else is weird about this footage.” You rewind it a fraction.

Chen shrugs. “If I haven’t seen it by now I’m not going to. Explain it.”

You pause the silent footage. “All these people. All these hybrids, right?”

“Yeeesss…” he sounds like he’s not quite following so you point at the huddled jumble of wounded, frightened faces.

“Why didn’t any of them resist? There’s…” you count quickly. “At least ten people in that apartment. They’re just… panicking. What would ten hybrids do if they were descended on by an armed mob of Federal agents and sentinels?”

Chen looks surprised; like that’s the dumbest question possible. “They’d fight.”

“Shit would be going everywhere. Ten possible genetic variations of abilities in one room and not one of them lifted a finger in that entire raid? They just let themselves be shot at, beaten and herded up like cattle?”

“That’s… too strange. They would _know_ what’s waiting for them once they’re identified. Why not fight for your lives with everything you have?”

You lift one shoulder. “Unless none of them in that footage are hybrids.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Xiumin explained Cypher. It’s a round-up of all hybrids.”

“He explained Cypher as he knew it a year ago. What if the program was adapted and utilised because there was only _one_ hybrid in that building that they truly wanted? One who would need the firepower something like Cypher could bring to bear in order to be contained. Someone who could destabilise entire _planets_ if they felt like it?” You run a hand over your mouth. “Jesus. Could any single person be that powerful?”

Chen deadpans in your general direction. “You’re sitting in a room with a man who can conjure fireballs out of thin air and the nearest thing this species has seen to a living, breathing miracle worker in the last three thousand years. I’ll let you take the odds on that.”

You huff a laugh. “Okay, point very thoroughly taken.”

In a sleepy shuffle of bare feet and blanket Kai wanders past the pair of you towards the bathroom and overhears the last exchange. “You’re uh… going to want to add to that list soon.”

You shoot a look up at him by tipping your head back. “Huh?”

He yawns, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “He’ll be cranky at me for telling you this but Suho wasn’t always the reputable civilian pilot he is now. He used to fly with me specifically because my work was outside the Federal sphere of influence.”

“Wait, _Suho_ has abilities?”

Kai smiles down at you both; it’s a motion full of nostalgia. “Never anger the guy during a storm, that’s for sure.”

Chen’s eyebrows lift. “His mutation is tuned for lightning?”

“The rain _itself_. Water. In all its forms.”

A low whistle escapes your lips. “ _Damn_.”

Kai nods, stifling another yawn. “He’s not one to talk about it though. When we stopped taking marks he went into the civilian sector to pass as normal, but I’ll bet you anything I own he’s bored shitless by now, even if he won’t admit it. The life of a freight haulage pilot isn’t exactly glamorous. Or reflective of his skills.”

“He’s that good, huh?” You muse as Kai returns to his sleepy trek towards the bathroom. His smile when he flashes it again over his shoulder is knowingly sharp.

“The best.”

~*~

A stoic figure, Xiumin looks uncertain as you and Chen explain your theory but he listens without interrupting nonetheless.

“So,” you finish. “Could it be possible?”

The black mask moves as Xiumin’s jaw works, thinking. Finally he tilts his head in an acknowledgement. “It’s possible. Cypher _could_ be adapted in such a fashion; it’s not outside the realm of possibility. But it doesn’t explain the sentinel you encountered at the border. Or the news report specifically talking about multiple raids.”

Chanyeol has been listening too, one hip against the kitchen bench nearby. “Unless they’re working systematically.”

You all give him curious looks. He shrugs.

“If you were going after something wouldn’t it make sense to neutralise the biggest threats first? Then work your way downwards? Everyone’s different; some hybrids can barely spark a glowstick in a blizzard. This person can move the earth _itself_.”

Xiumin seems to take that on board the quickest. “Hybrids are classified on a scale when identified. Prioritisation would make the most sense.”

“So the sector-wide raids might still be coming?” You look from face to face; Lay, Xiumin and Chanyeol all stare back with the same grave expressions. It’s Lay who speaks.

“If they’re bold enough to broadcast it this early, you can almost guarantee it.”

You face him directly. “Then we need to get out of this quarter. We might buy a day or so back at Chen and Sehun’s place but we’re going to need to find Suho and evacuate him with us before they close in.”

Chanyeol raises the tablet he’s been attached to like a lifeline all night and waves it. “My friend got a hit on a junkyard uptown not far from the trade quarter. We can still use Chen and Sehun’s place if need be and make our way there.”

“We need to know if we can get that ship and if it’s in working order. I have a bad feeling about all this.” You chew the inside of your lip. _Bad habit_. “The chances of us not having to fight our way off this planet are getting smaller each day.”

“I can sort that part out.” Chanyeol offers. “I’ve known this guy for years; he’s a decent junker. He can take me to the yard and I can meet you all back at Chen’s place when you’ve fetched Suho.”

You nod. Things are taking shape. _Better_. “We can decide what to do from there. Let the seller know we can pay upfront. Chen,” you turn to him. “We might need to swing by one of your fencing contacts on the way to your house. The biggest one you have; we need to offload this diamond. Cash if they have it, digital currency or virtual bonds if they don’t.”

Chen gives a thumbs up. “Can do. I know of a-”

A minuscule, tinny voice sparks up and you all startle, looking about for the source of the sound. Xiumin immediately raises one hand to his lips, one to a tiny earpiece you hadn’t noticed nestled in the well of his ear and backs away a few paces.

Everyone is suddenly exchanging nervous looks; Xiumin is wired. _Of course he is. He’s supposed to be on active duty right now, not here playing the world’s most dangerous game of hokey._ But you can see the sudden questions on the other guys’ faces. Is it an open line? Just how much of your conversations could someone else have been privy to?

Lay, the only one seemingly unconcerned, takes the break in the moment and motions for you. Because of that calm reaction alone you follow him away from the rest and around towards the open space near the bedroom door, keeping the width of a couple of steps between you both when you stop because despite Xiumin’s focus on his earpiece he’s still got one ever-careful eye on Lay.

“What’s up?”

“That’ll be Xiumin’s commander so it’s likely he’ll be called to go back soon. That won’t make him happy. He always takes great risks to come and look after me when I call for it.”

 _Ah. So the earpiece is only for on-demand communication. It’s not an open channel._ You settle a fraction. Barely.

“He’s doing the unthinkable, straddling both worlds like this.”

Lay smiles. “He is. But I wanted to tell you that this call will also be my cue to leave.”

You balk. “You’re not coming with us out of the quarter? It’s not safe here, least of all for you.”

“I’ll make my own way out. I have my routes and Xiumin can’t oversee me all the time. I’ve had considerable practice in keeping myself safe, trust me. He’s my backup when I come out of hiding like today.”

His statement causes you to flounder. Eventually after struggling with your emotions you settle on the most awkward words and they come out very small. “But we’re going to need you.”

Lay’s smile softens and he raises an eyebrow indulgently. “You’re about to try and gain access to a government facility chock full of agents. That’s the very last place for me to come with you and you know it.”

You immediately feel like a heel. “I do.” You can’t possibly ask the most valuable soul in the known galaxy to come along on your likely one-way jaunt right into the heart of those that wish him the most harm. _Talk about fucking selfish_. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think before I spoke.”

Lay places a hand against your bicep, squeezing once. “Go storm your castle. I’ll be here to patch your knights up if you need after you’re done; you just need to call. Kai knows how to reach me.”

“We’re certainly going to need a wizard,” you reply gently. Lay flashes you a satisfied look and you take a deep breath. “Okay. You’re _sure_ you prefer to be by yourself, even tonight?”

“I can take care of myself. And it’s easier if I travel alone.”

“How soon will you go?”

Lay glances back to Xiumin who is still doing what looks like arguing with the disembodied voice in his earpiece. “As soon as you all leave. Which I don’t doubt will be very soon.”

“No,” you sigh. “We’ll move out right after we wake the others. Chen’s place has far better security than here and it has clear visibility nearly all around so it’s a good vantage point. That’s where we’ll take Suho.”

Lay nods. “Then it’s settled. I’ll go rouse Kai and quickly say goodbye.”

You watch him turn and wade across the mattress pile, sinking down to untangle Kai from Sehun and wake him up. It feels rude to intrude on their brief farewell so you make your way back to the others who are all still standing in a wary, silent semicircle while Xiumin takes his communication. You catch the edge of it as you arrive.

“-rendezvous at thirteen-hundred, understood. Have Reicher prep the craft before I arrive. Engines running.”

You give a confused look in Chanyeol’s direction and are met with angry eyes and a shrug of one shoulder. With a press to his earpiece Xiumin cuts off the transmission with a terse ‘over and out’ and returns to the group. Chen turns away with a dark look and makes a very slow point of retrieving his laser from the weapons pile and sliding it home under his jacket. “Work calls?”

Xiumin says nothing.

“So… what? Now that your babysitting job is over you’re back to re-joining the ranks with your brethren? That how it works? Planning on rounding up any innocent civilians or hybrids tomorrow morning?”

Xiumin’s smudged eyes narrow. His shoulders set back and he draws himself up straighter. Chanyeol immediately drops his relaxed pose and pushes off the bench, employing every inch of his height.

 _Bad fucking news. Not now._ “Woah, woah. Stop that, all three of you. Dicks away.”

Chen is still looking thunderous and Chanyeol’s hands are squeezing into slow fists so you make a possibly suicidal decision, take a deep step between the three and grab Xiumin by the gauntlet on one heavily-armed wrist, applying pressure as you walk him backwards. By the grace of everything holy he doesn’t break your fingers off with his free hand and allows himself to be moved.

 _Christ._ You tug him away a short distance, painfully aware with every step that the only reason you’ve got this far is that the sniper is indulging it. Sweat actually beads on your forehead; you’re hauling along a Federal agent who could at any moment drop the shred of peculiar conscience that’s holding him back from handing you all in for a reward that would set himself up for life and turn on you. Violently if necessary.

You _very_ swiftly release his wrist as you come to a stop near the far wall. “I’m sorry but you can’t… you can’t blame them for being suspicious. Not with how all this looks.”

Xiumin glowers in the general direction of the men you’ve just moved away from. “They don’t know a _thing_ about ‘all this’ as you put it.”

You wave what you hope is a placating hand; half to get him to calm down, half to get him to pull his focus off the others. “I know. We know. But come on dude, give them a break and they’ll try to do the same for you. You’re not exactly making it easy.”

“Easy?” Xiumin ducks closer, stepping into your space as he brings his masked face close to yours. Intimidation tactic, no matter how simple. “What exactly about this whole fucked up situation is ever going to be _easy_? I’m risking my neck every second of every day I spend doing exactly the opposite of what I’ve been trained to do.”

You stretch up into your toes, nearly bumping his face with your own. _This is either going to get you answers or get you very, very dead._ “Then why the fuck are you doing it?”

You’ve hit a nerve. Xiumin tenses, spun tight like a live wire. He says nothing, jaw working and you push on. Now or never. “You can’t blame them for wanting answers. Wanting _reassurance_ , man. You’re standing here in Federation colours, about to be recalled to active duty that you’re _somehow_ sidestepping out of at great risk to protect Lay of all people… We want to trust you because of that but you’re giving us nothing else to work with. Can you _blame_ them for thinking you’re going to give the rest of the group up the moment we all walk out the door and part from Lay?”

If his neck were uncovered you’re pretty sure you’d see a vein working as a hefty internal debate rages inside Xiumin. Emotions you can’t place flick across his eyes one after another like a storm and you’re at the point of wondering briefly if he’s debating slitting your throat simply as the easier option when he finally growls and jerks himself back from your face.

You swallow around a dry throat. First test passed, whatever it was. _Still breathing_.

“You want something to trust? You want to know my _side_?”

The sniper rounds back and you immediately freeze but he continues on, striding back to Chanyeol and Chen - and by now the others who are awake and up. He stops short of the group and everyone except Lay watches him with a very wary eye. You notice all the weapons on the bench have been retrieved apart from yours. If Xiumin is going to turn on you all, right here right now, none of them seem willing to go down without a fight.

Xiumin pulls up short, breathing elevated. Every eye remains fixed on him and what he’s about to do; the tension in the room builds up and boils to near suffocation point. Just when you can’t freaking take it any longer Xiumin takes a slow breath and lets it out, resettling into the calm exterior you’re most familiar with. Reaching up he yanks the earpiece from his ear and drops it into a pocket on his combat vest. With the same hand he recesses a gauntlet panel on his opposite forearm and activates a miniature holo-display. A schematic twinkles to life between you all like a small, perfect snowflake.

“You’re not going to be able to shoot your way into the prison to retrieve your friend like I know you’re planning. They’ll see you coming and the only way it’ll end is with you all dead. The planet-side holding complex and its craft landing pad isn’t huge but it’s all too thickly manned, too heavily armed to storm. You’re going to need to make your own way inside with minimal engagement. That means Federal-issued passcodes. They’re refreshed automatically by the main A.I. every twelve hours so you’ll need to contact me just as you’re about to go in and I’ll load them for you.” He flicks a finger through the map of the building, spinning the schematic. “ _This_ will get you in. Memorise it.”

Unable to help it your eyes fall closed in sheer, stomach-dropping relief and the knot in your chest unwinds. It feels like you can breathe again.

Xiumin patiently relays the interior of the building complex piece by piece. You’re all paying so much attention to the diagram that none of you notice when Lay smiles and slips out the broken, boarded-up window, closing it silently behind himself.  

 

~*~


	8. Chapter 8

Xiumin’s number on your tablet burns a hole through your pocket as you leave Chanyeol’s place with Sehun, Chen and Kai in tow. Chanyeol himself is making a beeline for the junkyard, having agreed to meet you back at Chen’s warehouse loft before nightfall. Hopefully with good news about a ship.

Xiumin’s stern parting instructions were to call him only when the codes were needed. “If anything of any significance occurs before then, _I’ll_ contact you.”

The image of him turning and departing separately before the rest of you like a phantom, heavily armed memory plays in your mind as you follow Chen towards one of his most trusted dealers. You hope dearly that Xiumin’s part in this whole escapade goes off without a hitch. Everything rests on it.

The dealer in question is located at the westernmost edge of the rogue quarter which places it thankfully not far from the route you’d take to get back to Chen’s loft. The streets you wind through to get there however, feel vastly different now to when you first passed through them on your way to the decommissioned transport pad that would lead to Chanyeol’s shop. People and cyborgs gather in groups, talking in low-pitched tones about the broadcast raids and you find yourself catching scraps of sentences as you push through the stalls and crowded shopfronts.

“People are nervous,” you mutter to Kai as you follow Chen’s twisting path. “I keep hearing them mentioning what happened yesterday.”

“They have every right to be.” Kai replies, shouldering past a couple who are peering at projected images on their tablet. “This whole quarter has always been a haven for hybrids, everyone knows that even if it’s never officially been addressed. You can lose yourself here; become unknown. Carve out a new life for yourself, almost hidden away from the chances of being caught.”

“Until yesterday.” You both hook a sharp right turn as Chen slips through the gap between two stalls and down a shaded corridor, followed by Sehun.

“Until yesterday, exactly. And if anyone has managed to guess like we have that it might just be the beginning of something far larger, they’d be very nervous indeed.”

“How likely is that? I mean we only guessed because Xiumin talked about the Cypher program.”

“If you’re a hybrid you generally expect the worst and then if that doesn’t happen you’re pleasantly surprised. Never the other way around.”

“You sound very certain of that.” You’ve got one eye on Chen, one on Kai as you walk and talk. “Particularly so for someone who’s not a hybrid himself.”

You catch the corner of Kai’s mouth as it quirks up. “I lived with Suho for five years. I learned a great deal from him.”

A old-model cyborg clanks past, knocking into you as it talks distractedly to the floating hologram on its left. _Rude_. “You said he went into hiding amongst the humans after you two parted?”

Ahead of you Chen makes it to the end of the corridor and peers around the corner out into the next street, one arm held back to keep you all back behind him. Kai pulls up and takes a long breath. “His father never approved of what Suho was, which cut deeper than he’ll ever admit. The genetics came from Suho’s mother’s side and his father was unaware of _her_ grandfather’s enlistment in the First War. She never spoke of it to him. And then Suho came along.” Kai glances back to you. “A child who could create and manipulate water like Chanyeol can fire.”

This causes you to frown, troubled. “If he’s trying to pass as human nowadays, will he want to help us?”

Kai swings his attention back to Chen who has quietly pressed back against the wall and indicated that you all do the same. You both flatten yourselves against the stone and old canvas behind Sehun, watching as a pair of patrolling Federal hover-cruisers float past the mouth of the corridor and away down the street. When it’s clear Chen keeps moving and Kai resumes speaking.

“At heart and in his DNA he’s a hybrid, no matter how he may desperately wish to pretend otherwise. And he’s in very real danger if he stays in this quarter. He’s safer with us than if he tries to keep hiding in plain sight. No one remains undetected forever.”

That sets your mouth into a thin line. The truth in those words is particularly poignant now that Cypher has been unleashed. _And it’s going to get a lot harder before it gets any easier._

The one question that burns at you now is whether or not Suho will make that critical decision. As you follow Chen out of the corridor and down a small warren of back streets, you vehemently wish you knew the answer.

~*~

The steel partition covering a spy-hole in the thick door slides back with a thunk and a pair of suspicious, narrowed eyes gaze out at the four of you.

“Watchu want?”

Chen steps forward. “It’s not on schedule but I need an audience with the Madam.”

The gravelly voice attached to the pair of eyes laughs heavily. “She ain’t seein’ nobody w’out no appointment.”

Chen crosses his arms and squints. “Which one of the twins am I talking to? I can’t see your face but c’mon, you both know me. And you know I aways make it worthwhile for her.”

There’s a pause laden with metaphorical wheels turning. The eyes then disappear and the partition slams shut. Chen sighs and turns to you. “Fifty-fifty chance that she’ll grant us an audience. Just have to see what’s decided.”

You stretch your neck back and look at the boarded-up, heavily gated building that takes up most of one side of the thin, empty street you’re all standing in. “Who is the Madam anyway? And what _is_ this place?” Tattered remnants of lanterns swing like miniature, broken spirits overhead. “It looks like an old-Earth haunted house.”

Chen huffs a laugh. “It used to be a club.”

“Not sure I want to know _what_ kind of club.” Sehun mutters, toeing at a stone lying against the curb. It rattles off into a pile of scrap cardboard and broken electronics.

“Probably for the best that none of us find out.” Chen turns to you. “But you wanted my highest fencing contact right? The Madam is it. There’s nothing on this rock she can’t buy, sell or broker if need be. She’s likely the only one who’ll have enough credits on hand to pay us for the diamond outright.”

Kai carefully unbuttons his bloodstained jacket, letting the sides hang open. You’ve been around long enough to know a move that facilitates a quick, clean draw when you see one. “Expecting something?”

He shakes his head, still eyeing the open end of the deserted street. “Just being cautious.”

Seeing that, Sehun swings the string of shotgun shells around to the front of his chest and cracks the sawed off open, checking the ammunition inside. “Anything we need to know about this place before we step inside?”

Chen shrugs. “They’ll let you keep your weapons but you’ll be far too outnumbered to use them effectively. The Madam has a lot of guards you won’t necessarily see outright, but the club has aways been neutral ground – all parties have their say. You won’t be harmed in there unless you try to screw her over on a deal.”

“Charming.” You palm the diamond still nestled in it’s cloth inside one of your inner jacket pockets. “Let’s hope we stay on her good side.”

“You’ll be fine.” Chen tips his head in the direction of your pocket. “You’re in luck, actually. She likes shiny things.”

“She likes... what?”

The heavy door screeches open on it’s rusted hinges. All four of you take a step back as a monolith of a man in a brown waistcoat ducks to clear the doorframe and steps out, swinging a heavy head to look at you all. One side of his lower jaw is caved in, missing bone enough that the skin hangs grotesquely like a parody of a deflated ballon. Your eyes widen but Chen visibly brightens and walks forward, smacking the huge fellow on the chest with one hand as he squeezes passes him and steps inside. “Brutus. See? How many times before did I say you guys should install a bigger peephole so I can see who I’m talking to.”

“D’feats the purpose.” Brutus mutters, waving a meaty hand in the direction of the three rest of you still standing stock still on the pavement. “Meant to be all secret like. C’mon, ya got twenty minutes.”

Chen’s voice carries back out. “Always did like you more than your brother.”

“S’cause I’m tha good lookin’ one, ain’t it?”

You share a glance with Sehun as you gingerly follow through the doorway. Brutus is already at the end of the deserted foyer, holding open a curtain to a back room by the time your eyes adjust to the dim lighting.

Chen is silhouetted in the space vacated by the curtain. “Ready?”

You shrug. “Now or never.”

Chen ducks through and the rest of you follow. With a soft swishing sound Brutus lets the material fall behind you and _holy shit_ if you thought it was dim in the foyer it’s practically pitch black in here. Faint bulbs splutter against the far wall of what looks like a sunken stage area, illuminating all and yet nothing at the same time. There’s no one else present and you feel the hairs on the back of your neck start to rise. 

Kai moves to your left and Sehun your right. It’s Kai who speaks first. “What the hell?”

“Wait, it’s okay. She likes drama.” Chen pads forward and enters the sunken area. You follow with far more reluctance.

“Madam? We need a moment of your time.”

A shadow in one of the darkened corners of the room detaches itself and slides forward into the faint light. The outline of a small woman is suddenly visible, no bigger than a young girl but the voice that replies to Chen is frighteningly scratched and ancient.  “What do you bring?”

Squinting, you try and make out any kind of features; the Madam is clearly humanoid but her limbs’  movements are bulky and oddly disjointed. It’s only when the weak glow from the bulbs reflect off her blinking metallic eyes that you realise something.

“She’s a cyborg.” You mutter to the two men beside you.

“What?” Sehun whispers back. “Can’t be.”

“ _Can_ be,” the Madam chuckles, raising her voice to the room. “These ears might by a couple of hundred years old but they can still hear you, fleshlings.”

Guiltily, you step forward. “My apologies Madam. I… wasn’t aware any of your kind still existed.”

The Madam smiles; a creaky gesture that pulls the synthetic skin on her small face into the appropriate position. “I’m the _last_ of my kind. We were supposed to have all been decommissioned on old-Earth generations ago. Too lifelike, they called us. Too ghastly for the poor humans who wanted their robots to look more alien and metallic.”

“Your model was a early experiment in cybernetics.” Kai has moved up to flank you once more, along with Sehun. His voice sounds sad. “My nana had holographic images of one of your units who taught at a university she attended. People didn’t like the idea of cyborgs passing for human.”

The Madam shrugs. “Not all experiments are a wondrous success; some are doomed to failure. But I still exist. I walk and I breathe and I do so to spite my creators, all of whom I have lived long enough to see death claim. You’re all only dust after all. Carbon and a spark.” She chuckles, waving one small hand that appears to have several broken fingers. “But enough of the story time. It’s eating into your minutes. Tell me fleshlings, what have you brought me? It had better be interesting.”

You take a breath and reach into your pocket. “A different formation of carbon.”

~*~

Chen is busy haggling with the Madam when you feel a faint vibration in your pocket that’s storing the tablet. It wiggles twice and falls silent. You take a casual step away from the deal being negotiated and move over towards Sehun who is thoroughly unnerved by the undead child enough that he’s been hanging back by the curtained doorway. Kai wordlessly slips in and takes your place near Chen as a third-party observer to the deal.

Sehun watches you dig the tablet out of your pocket. “This whole place feels strange.”

“Hmm?” You glance up as you click the device on and the screen nearly blinds you both with its illumination. Hurriedly you dial it down. “You okay?”

Sehun runs his free hand up and down his gun-arm. “Yeah. I just…” he scrunches his face up as if he has something to say and then shakes his head. “It’s nothing. Don’t mind me. Just creeped out.”

You watch his twitchy movements with a wary eye. “You sure?”

He nods. “Yeah. Yeah I’m fine.” With a small lift of his chin he indicates your tablet. “Distraction. What’s it say?”

You flick the history feature on. “I thought it was a message but it’s a missed call. Odd. Lasted only a few secon— it was from Xiumin.”

Sehun leans close and peers down at the screen. “Do we try to call him back?”

“He said never to do that. And was pretty fucking adamant about it. Maybe he was interrupted mid-call?”

“See if he tries again.” Sehun glances over your bent head at the group still in the centre of the room and taps your arm until he gets your attention. You raise your eyes and follow his gaze. Chen seems to be settled on something and he’s shaking hands with the Madam. Sehun makes a small sound of disgust. You elbow him gently.

Chen returns to you with Kai in tow. “A seventy five/twenty five percent split and she’ll fund us the credits directly right now.”

You pull a face. “She gets the goddamned diamond out of this _and_ she wants a cut? That’s not your best deal by a long shot.”

Chen shrugs. “I can renegotiate but it’ll take hours and an official appointment that I’ll have to come back for. We can’t exactly be picky. We don’t have the time and she’s aware I’m in a hurry. The next contact on my list can probably fund only half that directly. The rest will be in bonds if he can get to a bank.”

“Ugh, no banks. No electronic paper trail if we can avoid it.”

“Then the Madam’s price is it.”

A frustrated sound escapes you. “What did you value it at to her?”

Chen raises a smug eyebrow. “Two hundred thousand.”

Sehun gapes. “You guys said it’s only worth about half th--”

Kai steps forward, slaps a hand over Sehun’s mouth and shoves him over at the waist, smacking his back. Sehun doubles over, coughing.

Kai turns back to the cyborg child. “Madam? My friend isn’t feeling well in such a small space. May we be excused while the deal is paid?”

The curtain whisks open from the foyer side as the Madam beckons you and Chen over - and you see Kai hauling Sehun outside before his coughs turn into laughter that’ll get you all expelled. Or shot.

The Madam extends a damaged hand when you reach her, palm up, grasping for the diamond. You shake your head. “I wasn’t born yesterday. Bring out the credits first.”

That earns you a proud half-smile from the skin on her synthetic face and the Madam turns away, shuffling to the corner she first came from. Your eyes have adjusted to the godawful lighting enough now that you can see a small box and chair in the darkness. You wonder with no small amount of horror if she just eternally sits in that corner waiting for human beings to visit and deal with her.

The Madam opens the box, retrieves a bag almost double the size of her tiny hand and returns to you both. “The credits are bracketed into hundreds. I trust it will suffice.”

Chen accepts the object when she hands it over and carefully unties the drawstring at the top. A faint glow pours from the bag and you can see him counting the electronic credit chips inside rapidly. After a moment he nods and re-ties the bag.  

You reach into your pocket and withdraw the planetesimal diamond and it’s cloth. The Madam snags it as soon as you drop it into her palm, cackling to herself. Turning metal irises towards you she grins and mutters her thanks. You deliberately don’t count the missing children’s teeth, turning away quickly and making for the curtain. Chen offers his polite thanks and quickly follows you.

Brutus allows you passage back into the foyer where you find both Kai and a now-sober Sehun.

“All done?” Sehun is back to looking unnerved by the whole place, so that’s something.

Chen appears at your shoulder just as your pocket buzzes silently once more. “We’ve got the credits. Time to go.”

“Thank god.” Sehun turns and makes for the heavy front door, stepping aside only to let Brutus catch up and heave it open. “I need air.”

You fish about in your jacket as you pass by the man mountain, Chen patting his thanks on the huge chest as you all escape the claustrophobic confines and tumble onto the empty street.

The door slams shut behind you like a final warning. With an angry sound you finally yank your tablet out but the call has already stopped. You’ve missed it. Again.

“What the hell?” You hunch over your tablet, trying to figure out if it’s worth calling Xiumin back after all because he’s _obviously_ trying to reach you with something… wait.

It wasn’t a call this time. It’s a message. You open it with a swipe of your finger and three words pop up.

_Find him faster._

You hold up the tablet to show the message to the others. Kai frowns. “Does he mean Suho?”

“He must. Xiumin knows we’ll be fetching him as soon as we have the credits and the the ship.”

“Is he in danger?”

You look back at the message. “If he’s not, it seems like he might be in short order. Something’s happening. We need to get to him now.”

Chen stuffs the bag of credits into his pants pocket. “We’ll move faster if we split up. I’ll take this back to the loft and Sehun can help me pack. We’re not going to be coming back to this planet once we break Baekhyun out and there’s valuables I need to secure from the vault. We can also get some supplies for everyone stocked.”

“Okay. Pack light.” Placing the tablet back into your jacket you think fast. “Kai and I will get Suho. We’ll meet you back at your place. Hopefully Chanyeol has some good news.”

Sehun turns Chen with a hand to his shoulder. “Call us if you need anything.”

“Will do. Take the transport pad back to the boarder and be _careful_ crossing the fence line. We’ll do the same.”

Chen nods and both men leave, disappearing down the empty street. You turn to Kai.

“Lead the way.”

~*~

The freight haulage building sits alongside the docking stations that bookend several residential streets. Kai pauses with you across the road from the main entrance, looking thoughtful.

“What is it?”

Kai pulls a face. “I guess we can just walk in... It’s been a while since I’ve been here, though. I used to come around often but Suho suggested after we parted ways that it would probably be best if I didn’t.”

That gives you pause. “Why?”

Kai shrugs. “Work might follow me home, I guess. He was pretty adamant about blending in. If I missed a mark and it came looking for me here, he didn’t want that kind of trouble in the new life he was building.”

“Bit late for that now. He may not have a choice to keep hidden any longer.”

“No,” Kai sighs, stepping off the curb and re-buttoning his jacket to hide the holsters. “It’s going to be--”

Something catches your eye. You reach out a quick hand before he can finish and snag his sleeve, yanking him to a stop. “Wait.”

Attention still on his clothing, Kai looks up. “Huh?”

Slowly, carefully you tug him back onto the curb and peer down the end of the busy street. “Hold up. Look.”

Kai follows where you’re looking and you feel him tense up just before you release his jacket. “Feds.”

The corner of the street that disappears down behind the warehouse on the southernmost end is bracketed on the other side by a dilapidated apartment block. As the two of you watch, a Federal hover cruiser slides onto place at the corner, settling down as it’s thrusters switch off.

“It’s only one.” Kai ventures. “Might be just another patrol.”

You hum thoughtfully. “After Xiumin’s text do we want to put money on that?”

“Give it a minute then.” Kai takes a step back and props himself up against several cracked, peeling posters that dot the empty shop wall behind you. “No harm in two regular people hanging out on a street.”

You mirror his move, leaning against the boarded up shopfront and angling yourself towards him so it appears as if you’re chatting and he has an easy view over your shoulder. “Anything?”

“Just a pair of agents. Doesn’t appear to be any more.”

“What are they up to?”

Kai observes patiently for a minute or two. “They’re talking to a couple of women on the sidewalk. Nothing threatening by the looks of it.”

“Maybe I’m being a little over-cautious here. Could be nothing.”

“Mmm.” Kai sounds about as convinced as you are. “Could be.”

You chance a glance back over your shoulder. Both the agents are returning to their cruiser. You wait for them to get in and drive off in a hum of turbines before you straighten and push off the wall. “Okay, clear.”

“Must have just been a regular patrol after all.”

“Guess so...” You give a thoughtful glance up and down the street as you cross it but apart from several parked cruisers, vans and a throng of pedestrians milling about in the late morning sunlight, the area is quiet. “Strange.”

Kai crosses the road, approaches the front office door of the freight haulage company and tugs it open. A tiny jingle of old-Earth bells announces your entrance and he holds it open for you behind him.

The reception area is little more than a three-walled room with an open view off to the loading docks on one side of the desk that perches in the middle of the space. A young dark-haired woman is situated there, swiping her fingers through a miniature holo-sphere of contact lists. She doesn’t bother to look up when you enter, instead waving a tanned hand bedecked in several slim charm bracelets towards the docks. “Loading to the right, offloading to the left, haulage straight down the end.”

Kai approaches the desk and props an elbow on it, leaning over the high countertop. “Jangmi. Long time no see.”

A pair of dark eyes framed with a soft smattering of liner raise up and a stern look washes over the woman’s face. “You were specifically told not to come here, Kai. You know that.”

“I do, I do.” Kai flashes her a charming smile; the kind you saw when he was last working his mark in the club. “I won’t be long, I promise. And it’s kind of important. Is Suho in?”

Jangmi sizes him up, seemingly unaffected by the charisma being shone in her direction. “What do you need him for? He’s busy overseeing the new shipment of concrete cinder blocks.”

“How er,” Kai falters, “…glamorous. Look, I just need a moment. Is he back there now?”

Jangmi stands as he pushes off the bench to brush past, multicoloured fingernails reaching out and closing over his forearm. There's an angry flush building on her freckled cheeks. “You can’t just come and go from here as you please. It’s a working facility, not a by-station for you to cruise in and out of. Especially now that you’re not Suho’s partner.”

Kai pauses and you can see him mentally weighing up his options. The two of you are _going_ into that docking station regardless of if this woman wants to let you through or not; the only option is how this is going to go down. You step forward and wave.

“Hi.”

Jangmi swings her eyes to you, seemingly noticing you standing there for the first time. “Hello?”

You paste the same kind of pleasant smile on your face as Kai had, albeit with far less charm. “Sorry to intrude, but we really do need a moment with Suho.”

You register an inhale of breath and movement to your right. Before you can blink Kai has an arm wrapped around your shoulders and he tugs you firmly against his side. You manage not to trip over your own feet in the process but it’s a near thing. “Yeah it’ll only take a moment. Big news.” He runs the hand that’s encircling your shoulder firmly up and down; so obvious it takes everything in you not to roll your eyes. “Really want to share it with him.”

Jangmi’s eyes dart between the two of you and her expression shifts, brightening into something that looks suspiciously like relief. “Oh! Oh, okay.”

Kai gives a tight squeeze of your shoulder that you’re sure will bruise later and drops his hand, taking hold of yours and linking your fingers. “I just wanted to share it with him before we went off-world.”

Your fake smile twitches and it takes a concerted effort to keep it plastered on. “Yeah... exactly. So uh, where is he?”

Jangmi smiles and flicks one hand cheerfully in the direction of the loading bay. “Haulage. Down the back to the right.”

“Brilliant. Thank you.” You practically drag Kai past the desk and out into the loud, metallic warehouse-sized back area, Jangmi’s voice trailing after you.

“Can’t miss him! He’s the cute one.”

The moment the receptionist passes out of sight you pry your hand out of Kai’s grip, shooting him a long look. “That was payback for smacking you earlier, wasn’t it?”

Kai grins and lifts one shoulder. “It was the easiest way past the jealous woman, that’s all.”

You aim a soft cuff against the back of his head which he tolerates, sniggering. It makes you realise something though. “She did seem somewhat reluctant to let you in.”

Kai walks the length of the first docked vessel, peering around it. He talks as he goes. “She still thinks Suho and I were dating.”

“Ohh, now I see.”

He re-emerges from the back of the ship, navigating a parked forklift. “It was often quicker on some of my marks to pass as a couple in order to gain access to places unobtrusively. And we’d lived together for so long that blurring boundaries ended up being... easier than we ever intended.”

“Her reaction makes a lot more sense now.” You keep up with him as he walks along the metal brackets, both your sets of boots clanking. “But I notice you don’t refute her assumption.”

“That’s my choice.” Kai halts in his tracks as a front-end loader trundles past, a cabled bundle of steel beams balanced in its dirty scoop. “I don’t like that woman. But it’s all in the past. I don’t come around here any more.”

You can take a hint when you’re smacked in the face with one. _Moving on._ “Jangmi said he’d be further back.” You point over the loader towards a series of metal scaffolding and holding pens towards the right hand side of the large space. “There’s concrete blocks in those pens over there.”

Kai swings around a set of stacked trolleys and ducks under a dormant crane’s dangling load, the moves smooth with familiarity and the ease of having navigated this space many times before. It makes you melancholy in a way you can’t quite explain.

A forklift is methodically stacking pallets of cinder blocks as you two approach, drawn from the open hatch of a nearby vessel. Kai pulls up short as the forks withdraw from the load and lower, the machine they belong to beginning to reverse away from the scaffolding. With a wave of one arm he motions to the man visible inside the open cab.

The engine cuts off. A red-haired figure turns and stands, swinging out of the cab with one hand on the framework. A pair of boots hit the cement and this must be Suho. He grins. “Kai!”

Kai smiles, closing the distance and enveloping him in a hug. “Hey, long time no see.”

Suho laughs, releasing him and stepping back. It takes a second but their current situation seems to sink in and as you watch, the happiness fades from his features. It’s an awful thing to see happen.

“What are you doing here?”

Kai glances around. There are several older, tired-looking men operating the various machines around the complex but the constant roar of engines is a decent sound buffer. “Can we talk?”

Suho looks abruptly wary. “About what?”

“I need your help. Something big has come up and-”

Suho cuts him off, frowning. “I told you, I want nothing more to do with your marks. I’m _out_ of that business. No more.”

“No, wait it’s not that. I-”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“It’s not what you think. Honestly.”

Suho rocks forward a fraction, eyes flaring angrily. “I saw dead bodies in my _sleep_. I can’t go back to that.”

Kai places a hand on Suho’s chest, settling him back on his heels. “Hold up and _listen_ to me. That’s not what this is about.” He pauses, wincing. “Although there might be some collateral damage involv—hey, wait up!”

Suho is already walking away, his footfalls heavy. “I’m not listening to this,” he calls over his shoulder.

You dart forward, keeping pace a respectful few feet behind the pair. Kai catches up and snags Suho’s shoulder. “Listen I _said_ I was sorry. I let you go and have the space you wanted. I even-”

Suho whirls around, backing Kai up a step. “That’s exactly it. I _have_ a life now. A real one. One that doesn’t involve hauling corpses that _you_ shot.”

“I survived the only way I know how!” Kai finally snaps back. “I made money that way because I’m good at it. And those were people that deserved it Suho, you _know_ that! They had bounties on their heads for a fucking reason. I only took _those_ jobs. I vetted every one. You were there!”

Suho makes a deep, angry sound. “I have a normal, nine to five job these days. I know it doesn’t pack the life and death thrill we both once chased but I fit in here and it’s a regular pay check.”

“It’s dull as shit!” Kai waves an arm, encompassing the warehouse. “You lift one pile of material off a planet and dump it here. Day after day. You can’t tell me that’s what you truly want to do with the rest of your days. That’s not the you I know.”

“I have a _life_. I have _work_. I have a ship I call my goddamned _own_ and I’m not-”

That startles Kai right out of his end of the argument. “Wait… you kept the ship? The Fed cruiser we stole and nearly destroyed on our last run?”

“Yes,” Suho abruptly lowers his voice to a hiss, glancing around. “ _They_ certainly weren’t going to want it after that asteroid belt we pushed it through to get away. I hid it for a few months, had it patched up and it’s mine now. It’s in the final dock back there.”

Kai whistles low, despite himself. “If we could only see the looks on all their faces if they found _that_ out… The general fucking _hated_ you for making off in his beloved ship. There’s still a mark on your head for that in the Colaris sector.”

“Hey, you had just as much to do with it as I did. I couldn’t have made off with it if you hadn’t had a gun to the navigator’s head.”

Kai’s smile softens and he aims it at the ceiling. “I remember that,” he replies softly.

Suho looks down and huffs a sound that almost manages to be a laugh, his hands on his hips. He takes a moment, a deep breath and then looks up. “What do you really want Kai? What brings you here now after all this time?”

Kai steps back, reaches out a hand and brings you forward into Suho’s line of sight. He looks startled but that’s expected; you don’t think anything existed for the two men in those last few minutes except each other and their feud. “We have something that you need to listen to.”

Suho’s gaze bounces between the two of you and he nods slowly. “What’s so important?”

Kai motions for all of you to move over to the wall, out of the way of the machinery. “Did you see the news yesterday?”

“Which part?”

“The raid. The hybrid raids they were talking about conducting throughout the rogue quarter.”

Suho’s eyes dart to you in warning but Kai waves a hand. “She knows. It’s not an issue.”

An exasperated expression crosses Suho’s face but he shakes his head and plods on. “What about them?”

“They’re part of something larger. We can sit down and explain it all in more detail later but we don’t have a lot of time.” Kai drops his voice and speaks fast. “We’ve been given word from a reliable source working within the Feds that this raid was the first of many and it’s going to ramp up very soon. As in it’s designed to become a hybrid cleanse implemented on a _city-wide_ scale. With possible planetary expansions if these are successful.”

“They’re targeting every single hybrid? That’s never been done before.”

“On some kind of a tier from the strongest grade that they’re aware of to anyone they can come across in the process. It’s systematic and it’s already started.”

You speak up for the first time. “We think they may have been targeting a particularly powerful hybrid in the last raid. We’re you planet-side yesterday during the quake?”

“Yeah, I was. I’m—hang on I’m sorry,” Suho shoots you a confused look. “Who exactly are you?”

Kai flings out a quick introduction, following it up with, “She has a friend currently being held by the Feds. I was recruited along with a few others to bust him out but we need a pilot and-”

Suho’s expression turns patiently exasperated. “You want me to help.”

Kai wobbles his head in a half yes-half no gesture. “We wanted your help, yes. She can pay and everything. But now we also want to get you off this planet entirely. Take you with us. You can’t stay here, not with what’s unfolding. It’s not safe.”

Suho hesitates. “You don’t really think they can find _every_ hybrid in this city? That’s a crazy high number.”

Your tone is serious. “According to our source Cypher has the funding, the resources and the firepower to do exactly that. They’ll move from block to block if they have to.”

“Surely you’ve noticed all the extra officers being offloaded planet-side these last few weeks?” Kai adds, his face earnest. “I know you pay attention to stuff like that, even now.”

Suho sighs. “Old habits die hard. Yeah, I did. I thought it might be a changing of the guard or something like that.”

You cross your arms. _Comfort pose_. “They need the extra bodies on the ground for this to work. And more are arriving each day. It’s no coincidence. Our source has given us a timeframe of a couple of days to get you, get this job done and get off this godforsaken rock.”

“How trustworthy is this source?” Suho queries and you can see the gears turning. He’s taking this on board at least. That’s a start. “He’s Federation. Can you genuinely trust him?”

Kai hesitates in trying to explain the convoluted answer that is Xiumin and Lay so you step in. “Another very rare hybrid does. With his life. Our source is risking everything to protect him.”

Suho nods slowly. “Okay, if that’s the case I’ll buy it. But a couple of days is a very small window of time. Do you have a plan?”

“We have a layout of the facility they’re holding him and a means of gaining access through Federal passcodes.”

“Minimal engagement if possible.” Kai adds and you can hear the plea in his voice. “Please Suho, come with us. We need a pilot. We can’t do any of this without one.”

“What about a navigator? We can maintain the barest of planet-side altitudes in a ship with just me but beyond that we need the DNA fingerprint of a navigator to clear atmo. You know this.”

You raise a hand slightly. “Baekhyun -my friend- is a navigator. You fly us into the docking pad on the facility, we get in, we spring him and the two of you can then get us off this rock.”

“That’s… a helluva lot of maybes resting on this operation going smoothly. On you being able to get him out and to the ship in time. Once we’re at that facility, one mistake and we all die there.”

Kai presses. “You and I’ve had worse odds in the past. This crew is solid. We have a pair of hybrids now if you’re in and the rest of us can hold our own.”

“One more hybrid will be joining us after we grab Baekhyun,” you add. “The special ward of our Federal source. We’re taking him with us.”

You can see Suho’s curiosity piquing the more of your story you unveil. “What makes him so special?”

Kai laughs. “I’ll tell you all about him tonight. He’s one of a kind. There’s-”

A dull boom sounds from outside, somewhat muffled by the thick warehouse walls. All three of you turn towards the front of the facility. Kai frowns.

“Was that a _grenade_?”

The three of you strain your ears, listening without moving. The work vehicles around you continue to clank and rumble, their operators unaware of anything amiss. Until a second rumble sounds, punctuated by the unmistakable _rat-tat-tat_ of automatic gunfire. Suho bolts down the wall, slamming his fist through a glass panel that protrudes from the metal. An alarm wails to life.

The machines grind to a halt and men emerge from the cabins and holds, looking about themselves. In the absence of the workplace hubbub Suho raises his voice and waves an arm.

“Everyone out!”

The sound of weaponry is louder now and the haulage workers rapidly obey. Suddenly you’re surrounded by men everywhere, jogging and pushing for the exits. Suho squeezes through them and returns to you.

Kai is looking about himself, trying to spot the source. “Is it coming from outside?”

Suho pulls up short, a look of comprehension coming over his face. “The front.”

He pushes past the pair of you and both you and Kai have no choice but to follow. Suho makes a beeline for the reception you came through. Rounding the open doorway into the front area, you spot Jangmi peering out the windows that face the street. She glances back briefly when you all arrive but then immediately returns to whatever she’s looking at. “What’s going on?”

The sound of screams has started up from outside and Suho darts forward, tugging Jangmi back from the glass. “Stay back. It’s not safe.”

You step up into the space she vacates, peering more carefully around the edge of the frame. The street outside that had been so empty this morning is now jammed with people running and ducking, piling over one another as uniformed Federal officers descend on one of the apartment blocks that bookend the warehouse. Many more agents spill out of what you recognise in dawning horror as the unmarked vans that were sitting innocuously by the curb earlier when you arrived. _They were already setting up_. _We just didn’t know._

Several cruisers descend amid the panicked crowd, disgorging their loads of officers and sentinel cyborgs. Behind you you can hear Jangmi’s nervous voice.

“Suho? What’s happening?” A flashbang grenade goes off in the lobby of the apartment building. “Are we in danger? Should we leave?”

Kai brackets the other side of the window and takes a look outside. The sentinels’ miniguns spin ominously and the civilians on the street flee, practically falling over themselves in an effort to get away. Some climb over the parked vans, flinging themselves out of the way.

As you watch the Feds storm the building in the wake of the debilitating light and sound of the grenades, yelling commands and brandishing their weapons. It takes only a few seconds of reaction time but the bottom floor windows blow, three or four hybrids vaulting from the confined space and out onto the pavement. The sentinels swing around, firing. You turn to look at Suho and Jangmi. “Is there a back way out?”

Suho has hold of Jangmi’s arm as she clutches him, trying to comfort her. “My ship is out back.”

Kai moves around to the door and cracks it a fraction. The bells that tinkle over his head are a hideous parody of normalcy right now. “We might need to use it. The street is clear back down the side we came but we’ll be exposed. Easy targets.”

“Those cyborgs have a damn good range on their miniguns.” You turn back to the violent scene unfolding a few meters down from your location. _This is what Xiumin must have meant in his message,_ your brain supplies. He found out this raid was going to happen and already knew roughly where you were going to be looking for Suho. “We can’t risk it.”

 _Find him faster._ Bit late now.

Amid the chaos just outside a woman with gold hair wrestles with the hold two Federal agents have on her, yelling at the top of her lungs. They kick her legs out and force her to her knees on the sidewalk, one of the sentinels looming over her with his weapon at her temple. The first officer withdraws a set of thick dampening cuffs from his belt and the hybrid shrieks, slamming her hands on the pavement beneath her.

In an explosion of incandescent white energy, forks of lightning erupt from her position; spiralling outwards in chains of molten force that strike the officers and the cyborg around her. All three are flung outward. You have barely enough time to grab Kai and shove him out of the way before the sentinel crashes through the window.

The damaged cyborg collapses onto the floor, sparking and jerking. The minigun attached to one wrist fires burst after jerky burst, tearing into the walls and ceiling as all the fried circuitry inside it’s skull makes the thing thrash about.

Suho pushes Jangmi down behind the desk and throws himself to the side as a hail of bullets spin around the room. You keep low and duck around the side of the desk too.

Kai has pinned himself low into the corner where the open doorway branches back into the warehouse, crouched down on his heels, both silver berettas out and pressed up against his shoulders.

Suho is now flattened prone under the shattered window and the danger of broken glass spread across the floor makes you peek your head around the desk, one hand withdrawing your weapon and keeping it close. He’s not cut but it’s a close thing. Which makes you think…

“Is it’s targeting system blown?” You yell across the din, ducking back as a spray of bullets embed themselves into the desk. You can see Kai casting repeated glances out from behind his cover.

“Let’s find out.”

Suho yells out not to but Kai stands, leans around the doorframe and fires at the sentinel with both weapons. The bullets pierce the cyborg’s chest cavity, jerking it around even more. It’s gun arm raises and the cyborg hauls itself up like a broken corpse, propelled by the impacts to react. One green eye is all that remains on the damaged face, the twin hanging by a thin wire halfway down its faceplate. But instead of firing on Kai’s direction it swings its arm around and locks incorrectly onto the heat signature of Suho who is still prone underneath the window. You shout a warning.

Jangmi shrieks. Before you can tell him not to Kai drops down, pushes himself out and skids across the glass-strewn floor, sliding into Suho. He lands in front of him and uses his body as a shield, unloading both clips into the unsteady sentinel as it lurches towards them. Fuck.

You raise yourself onto your haunches and lay a forearm flat on the desk, slamming your gun hand over it and taking aim. “Hey! Over here!” You squeeze the trigger as fast as you can. Bullets tear open one side of the sentinel’s head, dragging it sideways. The minigun flares wide to the side and up as it stumbles, the bullets whipping out the window above the men.

Suho drags himself to his feet as the cyborg whirls in an unsteady circle, the last of the sentinel’s clip expending itself in a 360 degree spray over all your heads. It whirrs to a stop and Suho hauls Kai up beside him by the collar. You feel movement to your right and lurch for it but Jangmi stumbles out of hiding and runs for the door before you can drag her back to safely. “No! Come back!”

She ignores you in her terror, sprinting for the door. Suho peels off from Kai and tries to intercept her before she gets in range of the cyborg which is rapidly reloading but he doesn’t make it. The metallic hand not rearming swings out, contacting her head and sending her smacking against the wall. She collapses with a panicked sound and curls into a small ball, shaking uncontrollably. But you can see she’s still conscious. _That’s something_. Small miracles.

You fire the last of your clip at the head again, aiming for the remaining optical socket. The green eye shatters in a shower of flaring circuitry and the now-unseeing head rotates in that eerie way cyborgs have, somehow zeroing in on where it last saw you. It raises its weapon, the reload clicking into place. Fuck. You duck back down behind the desk.

“Suho!” You hear Kai yell. “To your left! Is it usable?”

Suho’s voice carries back. “Yes! Blow it!”

“No ammo left--captain! Reload!”

The impact of the bullets against the side of the desk nearly drown out Kai’s request. The metal and wood is going to rip apart soon under the onslaught. “Can’t!” You call back. “Empty!”

Jangmi’s wobbly voice registers amidst the din. “Drawer! Bottom drawer!”

You fling a hand out, yank the remnants of a draw beside you open and scrabble inside. After a moment your hand closes over a miniature pistol; the delicate, single-shot kind that fits neatly into a women’s handbag. You withdraw it and reach an arm around the desk base, skidding it across the floor in the direction of Kai’s voice.

Suho yells. “Stay down!”

A single shot goes off and with the hiss of intense pressure being released, the room is suddenly filled with spraying water. You chance a look around the desk as every droplet in the air freezes in position for a heartbeat before withdrawing the way it came. A fire hose that connected the wall is ruptured by the bullet and the water that poured forth is now… you swallow a gasp.

Suho stands by the wall, the torn-off hose whipping around him like a huge, obedient serpent, controlled by the water he’s just forced back inside. With a fling of his open hand he sends the hose out, wrapping it around the cyborg and pinning its arms down to its sides like chains. Kai darts forward, scooping Jangmi away from the wall and barreling the both of them behind the shattered desk with you as Suho squeezes his fist closed.

The water inside tightens the hose with impossible strength. Circuits tear, plating buckles and with a wrench of screeching metal the cyborg is ripped in half. The torso is flung out and lands on top of the desk, sparking and twitching, the sightless head dangling over the side towards you. Jangmi yelps. Kai quickly stands, wrenching off a broken chunk of the desk. He shoves it directly through the faceplate. With a hiss the machine finally dies.

Your legs give out and you drop down fully onto the dirty floor, adrenaline dissolving in your system and leaving you shaken. “Jesus Christ.”

Suho rounds the side of the desk as Kai slumps against the wall. “Everyone okay?”

You wave a shaky hand. “Alive.”

Kai nods, holstering his weapons wearily. The move shifts his jacket and you frown and push yourself the foot or so over to him, using the remnants of the desk to haul yourself upright again. “Your arms.”

Kai makes a questioning sound and twists his arms around so he can see. “Oh. Shit.”

Suho immediately snags a sleeve in one gentle hand, inspecting the damage. “You idiot.” Thin, shallow cuts slice up each forearm from where Kai slid across the floor. “We need to get these cleaned.”

Kai hisses at the move, only now registering the pain as his own body processes it post-fight. “I’ll be fine, the jacket took most of the damage.”

Suho is ignoring him, instead worriedly peeling away the sides of the jacket where the old blood from the gunshot had bled through, creating the illusion of far deeper wounds. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“That’s…” Kai takes his hands and pulls them away. “That’s old. It’s dry. I’m not hurt anywhere else.” Suho still looks concerned and confused though so Kai offers, “I’ll explain later. C’mon we need to get out of here.”

Suho drops the subject with a frown and takes his hands back, turning to Jangmi. He crouches down, reaching out and cradling her head. “Hey. Can you walk?”

You holster your weapon and look towards the warehouse escape route, but the soft, vehement words down by your feet turn you back.

“Get away from me.”

Looking over you see Jangmi has shrank away from Suho, her eyes narrowed. “Get the _fuck_ away from me.” She scrambles out of his touch, wobbling to her feet. “I don’t want you near me you _freak_.”

Suho looks aghast. “Jangmi…”

“Get away!” On unsteady legs Jangmi scrambles out from the desk, putting it between herself and the rest of you. She points a shaking hand at Suho. “You’re one of _them_. You’re one of those disgusting hybrids! God!”

Suho stands slowly and takes a step around the desk but Jangmi backs up wildly. “No! Stay back! I don’t want to… I can’t. You’re just like _them_!”

Kai moves to stand beside Suho. “You can’t be fucking serious. He just saved your _life_. He just saved us _all_!”

Jangmi is fast approaching hysterical, her movements wild as she shakes her head over and over. “Nonono… This isn’t real. I hit my head. I saw--”

“I can explain.” Suho holds out a placating hand but Jangmi shrieks and flattens herself back by the front door.

“I thought I _knew_ you! I thought you were…” she shakes against the wall, nearly out of her mind with a mix of fear and wrath.

“Normal. You thought I was normal.” Suho’s voice drops, miserable. “Please just let me explain. We can get to the ship and I’ll explain everything. I’ll--”

Kai cuts in, furious. “There’s nothing _to_ explain. This is Suho, Jangmi. The same person you’ve always known. How can you be so fucking _prejudiced_?”

“ _They’re not human_!” Jangmi screams. “He’s not a person!” She spins and wrenches the door open. “He’s a...  _thing_!”

You push forward, trying to grab her, stop her shouting for the Feds just a few doors down, anything… but Jangmi suddenly freezes on the spot, one foot over the threshold. Completely, lifelessly paralysed. You pull up just beside Kai and look wildly about as she gurgles, unable to speak.

Suho has taken a step forward and now stands in the middle of the room, one hand extended towards Jangmi. She struggles and whines in the open doorway, terrified and completely immobile.

“How?” You exhale. “How is this possible? His affinity is water.”

Kai ducks his head, looking at the ground. “The human body is sixty percent water.”

You look on in dawning comprehension as Suho takes a step closer to Jangmi. “I’m so sorry.” He whispers brokenly. “I really am. You have to believe that. But I can’t let you run out there and call the Feds without doing something. I _can’t_.”

Jangmi writhes. Suho speaks again and you can _hear_ the tears in his voice. “I never wanted you to find out. I never wanted anyone to have to look at me the way you just did. Please don’t do this.”

Kai murmurs to you. “He can only hold her for as long as he can see her. That’s the limitation with doing this. The moment we leave she’s going to run.”

“Jesus.” This affinity is… you never dreamed that a water hybrid would have so much power over... living beings. But of course. Hydrogen and oxygen. Water. It’s in _everything_.

Suho turns his wrist slightly and Jangmi gasps, her head now free to move. “Go to _hell._ ” She spits out. “You and your whole fucking species.”

Kai steps forward, reaching out and laying a hand on Suho’s shoulder. “We need to leave.”

Suho shakes his head, eyes locked on Jangmi. “If I let her go...”

“You have to. We have no time.”

Suho keeps his arm extended but it’s starting to tremble from the lactic acid build up. Beside him Kai takes a breath and walks around to the front, taking just enough steps that he’s in Suho’s line of sight.

“Look at me. Not her.”

The tears finally fall. You can see them streaking Suho’s cheeks in long rivulets. With a wet inhale he blinks once, twice and shifts his vision, taking his eyes off Jangmi and focusing on Kai who moves over to completely fill his sight. Suho’s arm drops.

Jangmi collapses against the doorframe, shoving herself outside with a fever-pitched sound. Kai places his hand against Suho’s damp face. “Breathe. It’s all right, you’re gonna be okay. Come on. Focus.”

Suho heaves in breath after breath and you swipe a hand across your own cheeks, smearing away the moisture there, “We won’t be if we don’t leave. C’mon you two.”

Kai raises gentle eyebrows and shifts his hands to grip Suho by both shoulders. “You heard her. Where’s your ship docked?”

Suho swallows, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Uh, in the back…” he trails off.

“We’ll have space to process all this later. I promise. But the captain and I are still in this room and we need you right now. Jangmi is going to bring the Feds down on us all in a matter of minutes. You’re the only one who can fly us out of here.”

“Right,” Suho clears his threat roughly, turning away. “Back dock,” he manages. “Follow me.”

You share a relieved look with Kai as you fall into step behind him, your footfalls crunching wetly.

~*~


	9. Chapter 9

Suho bolts up the open loading ramp of the ship in the final docking bay at the end of the warehouse, you and Kai following along. As his clanking footfalls disappear into the bowels you slow slightly, Kai passing you and ascending the ramp a few extra paces before he realises you’re now behind him.

“What is it?”

You hook a hand on one of the pistons that support the ramp’s movement and look back the way you all came. A crash sounds out; windows being shot in. Your mouth sets into a thin line. “They’re coming.”

“Yeah, so we’re _going_.” Kai’s hand grabs your sleeve and yanks, pulling you up the ramp and into the hold of the vessel. “Standing around is what gets you shot.”

You allow yourself to be tugged along. “She really did run for them.”

Kai smacks a hand on the button beside the entranceway, pulling you up beside him and out of the way as the ramp is wound up with the hiss of hydraulics. “You actually expected something different?”

“No,” you mutter, eyes adjusting to the fluorescent yellow lighting as the huge ramp slams shut against the side of the hold, leaving only the two of you and a stack of concrete cinder blocks looming behind you in the dim light. “Not really.”

“The time for pondering motives is any hour _other_ than right now.” Kai moves for a ladder nearby and hauls himself up it with ease onto a metal catwalk that rings the hold. “The only thing that matters is that we get out of here in one piece.”

 _He’s right, you know._ Baekhyun’s voice seems to echo against the corners of your skull now that you’re back on a functioning spaceship. _Move your asses._

“Hey.” A couple of fingers click in front of your nose and you start, jolting back to see Kai extending a hand down to you. “Coming?”

You shake the cobwebs away and grab his hand, climbing up beside him. “…Yeah. Yeah let’s go.”

The whirr of engines booting up follows you both as Kai leads you along the catwalk and out into the thin, hallway-like spine of the ship all the way down to the bridge. You both emerge to find it lit up like a Christmas tree; Suho seated at the flight controls on the right, flicking the full set of ignition switches above his head. The engines kick from a purr to a roar. “Strap in.”

Kai drops a hand to Suho’s shoulder so quickly you’d have missed it if you didn’t happen to be looking and slides over into the dormant navigator’s seat, strapping himself in even though there’s very little he can do with the controls. Just having him nearby however seems to settle Suho and his voice is a little less rough when he speaks again. “You too captain.” A trio of bullets flies wide across the prow; first warning sign. “She’s starting cold so this might get a little rough.”

You glance around; the only seat left sits in the middle of the floor. You know what that signifies like a dormant call to your blood and as the ship jostles, beginning to power up you dive for it, strapping yourself in with both the belts across your chest. The seat welcomes you home with a soft twinkling of lights that systematically ignite along the armrest. This at least you’re familiar with. You lock your hand onto the pad at the end and roll your thumb across the DNA fingerprint register, unlocking the controls. A direct neural link to the ship’s systems floods your senses. Following behind it the ship’s A.I. unfurls inside your mind and blinks to life. A name pulses gently against your temples like a warm handshake. You smile and return the silent greeting.

_Hello, Elbereth._

A small holographic projection flickers up above your wrist in reply and you suddenly have vision looking down from the crest of the ship at the warehouse below. As you watch several of the safety docking chains snap away from Elbereth’s sides when Suho begins to divert power to the ground-based thrusters, breaking her free of their hold. Another spray of bullets zing across the ship’s nose, dangerously close this time. Final warning.

Flicking your fingers through the display you rotate it to give yourself a clear view of the men and cyborgs flooding in from the front of the warehouse. A gentle voice like the tinkling of forgotten bells fills the cabin.

**_Systems initialising. Captain and pilot detected._ **

Suho raises his hands away from the controls in surprise at the voice. “What the..?” He looks back at you and his look of confusion morphs into one of abrupt relief at the sight of you interacting with the ship’s systems. “I’ve never heard her speak before.”

“She’s interfacing with me,” you reply, swiping your display back to a front facing view and away from the incoming soldiers. “She’ll respond to a pilot’s command but a ship’s full capacity comes online to a captain.”

Kai grins. “That could be the bonus we were missing all those years.”

You look at him over the display, raising your eyebrows. “This is just the beginning. Elbereth, systematic weapons inventory please.”

**_Incoming._ **

Suho reaches for the controls again, hauling them back gently towards himself. The move releases the ship of the last of her docking clasps, raising her off the cement enough that the lower thrusters can start to extend and rotate around to their fixed flight position. Bullets begin to spark off the surface plating and reinforced glass cockpit. Kai’s voice comes across the din.

“You named her _Elbereth?_ ”

Suho reaches to the side panel between them with his left hand and flicks the tiny safety hatch open on the shield disc. “Now’s not the time, Kai.”

The amusement can be heard in Kai’s voice as he shifts up and over in his seat to reach his half of the circuit disk. “You’re still such a dork. I can’t believe you-”

 “Yes, yes. Shut up.”

**_Shield charge initiated. Twenty five percent._ **

“Twenty fi- dude,” Kai smacks Suho’s fingers away from his side of the circuit and turns the disk up a notch. “Why would you ever let this power down so low?”

A spray of minigun bullets tears at the side of the left engine casing closest to the Feds; several sentinels’ attempt to destabilise it as you rise into the air. Suho flicks the final switch above his head, settling the engine thrusters he’d used for lift into place for flight. “It’s not like I thought I’d have any use for it again.”

**_Fifty percent._ **

Your own holographic display twinkles and a warm push against your mind draws your attention back from the men in front of you. Elbereth has the weapons systems database online and you scan it rapidly. “Boys…”

“Besides, who would shoot at a commercial pilot for god sakes? Retract the landing gear.”

**_Seventy five percent._ **

“Already done.” Kai turns the dial between them one last notch. “And I don’t know… Someone like the kind of people _we_ used to be might take a shot at you? Boosters nearly at full capacity. You knew better than this.”

The soldiers and sentinels stalk closer to the ship, weapons to their shoulders, every one of them firing now that it’s perfectly fucking obvious that you’re not going to land and surrender. Bullets are sheering off the outer platework now and there’s a very real danger that if they crack it or the cockpit glass you’re not going to be able to fly. Or you could just ignite where you’re hovering. “ _Boys_ …”

“Rookie move.”

“I _could_ just dump you out the back hold and be done with it, you know.” Suho’s voice is calm, measured as he looks to the right and starts to broadside the ship, swinging the heavy nose for the exit. “I’ve done it before. Don’t test me.”

Mingun fire cracks directly off the cockpit window. Kai sniggers, swiping at the controls for the booster ignition sequencers, bringing them operational and you finally realise what he’s doing. _He’s distracting Suho enough that he doesn’t have time to think about anything right now except the take-off._

**_Shields at one hundred percent capacity._ **

Immediately Suho and Kai’s hands slam onto the disc together, kicking the shield discharge into gear. You’re mildly impressed at how they’re managing to keep poking at each other as if nearly being shot down before you’ve even taken off is all secondary to their attention _and_ pull off powering up the dormant ship in perfect sync at the same time. You’re not going to lie; any other time it would be rather entertaining to watch. Just not right now with the very real danger of being turned into a gigantic fireball.

A flare of pale silver light ripples out, engulfing the ship as the shield initiates. You drag in a breath of relief - and when your calls are further ignored you fling out a “Hey!” and give a push to Elbereth. A copy of your display flares up in front of both Kai and Suho, startling them out of their banter. You have the breathing room for a second so you wave a hand at it. “Toys. Lots of shiny toys. Pick one for cover and let’s get the hell out of here. Now.”

Kai straight away latches onto the top item on the list. Suho glances over. “Oh. Never could figure out how to bring those online.”

”Captain’s privilege.” You glance at Kai’s selection. “Elbereth, can those be fired from the bridge?”

**_Affirmative._ **

“Fabulous.” You swipe your thumb again, overriding any security protocols that might still be in place. “Weaponise wing ion cannons. Swing them port side. Kai, you want the honours?”

Suho flicks his half of the visual display over to Kai, merging both projections into a complete view for him.  His voice is cold. “Hit them where it hurts.”

A blinking light on your own holographic display reveals that the cannons are online and fully powered. Elbereth pulses inside your skull and you whisk the aiming controls from your projection to Kai’s. Along your shoulders your hair prickles and you can subconsciously feel the faint energy disruption as the cannons begin to draw charge. You return your own display to the vision from the crest, watching the humans and cyborgs below your rotating ship realise what’s happening and try to scatter, diving for cover.

They don’t make it. None of you take your eyes of the screens in front of you and somehow... That feels justified.

~*~

The smoke from the destroyed warehouse is long behind you in the distance as you reach the highest cruising altitude a craft can manage sans navigator. Suho sets the controls back into a neutral position the moment you level out and inputs the coordinates you gave him for Chen’s place into the navigational directory. Then he flicks the autopilot on and stands, leaving the bridge without a word.

Your eyes track him as he disappears and after several moments of waiting you sigh and unbuckle yourself from the chair. Walking up behind Kai you watch him scrolling through the weapons directory before reaching out and yanking a small chunk of his silver hair at the back of his head. “Don’t you have something better to do?”

Kai’s head tips back to look at you upside down. You pull an exasperated face and wave in the direction of the spine. “He’s hurting. Your equivalent of pigtail pulling may have worked for a short while but he shouldn’t be left alone right now and I don’t know what to say to help him.” 

Kai winces. “He’s always preferred the quiet.”

Your lips press into a thin line and you spin his chair around, leaning over until you can rest your hands on the armrests. “He’s your responsibility. Go. Check. On. Him.”

Kai nods and unbuckles himself, standing. “If he tosses me out an airlock tell Lay he can practice piecing a human being back together from a drop of ten thousand feet.”

“Will do.” You pat his shoulder as he passes. “Hop to it.”

As Kai vanishes from sight you reach out and idly flick through the rest of the weapons inventory. For an ex-Federation ship she’s damn well equipped. _Figures._ You did hear the men say she belonged to a general after all. Which speaking of…

You straighten up and glance around. “Elbereth? System rundown.”

**_03K64 Maelstrom pursuit series fighter. Class B mid-bulk transport. Manufacturing model EXO-V. Arconite reactor. Hyperjump capable. Commencement date 2213. Registered owner General Marcus Velen, Federation Alliance. Registration number 404-_ **

“Hold up.”

The A.I. falls silent, waiting. You cross back to your chair and place your hand on the command pad. “Re-sequence registered ownership. Commence exchange from General Velen to last detected pilot’s DNA.”

**_Override protocol required. Hybrid DNA detected. Sequencing to a non-human genome is prohibited on all Federation vessels._ **

You roll your eyes and spin your display around to face where you’re standing, searching for the correct lock deep in the system. _They like to hide these things in the stupidest places…_ “Elbereth? Where did the general store his sequencing commands?”

**_Federation law prohibits the disclosure of such information to civilians under section 1121, subset 1013-_ **

“Yes, yes.” You tune out. “You’re restriction-bound not to reveal half this crap. I get it.” You think you hear the sound of something smashing further back in the ship but you tune it out.

Elbereth sounds almost… regretful. **_Apologies, captain. The mainframe database is coded to not allow me to reveal sensitive information._**

“Yeah whatever, I-” you pause. “The mainframe database?”

**_Affirmative, captain._ **

“This is a Maelstrom series fighter correct?”

**_Affirmative. Civilian designed and made, Federation contracted._ **

You’re not sure you’ve ever heard an A.I. sound smug before. “So… if a _civilian_ captain wanted to override the Federation coding via the mainframe database, there would be no problem?”

The lights on the arm of your chair twinkle. ** _I do not believe so, Captain._**

You grin to yourself and dig deeper into the file registry on the holo-display, flicking though the layers of Federation crap they’ve installed on the system. It takes you a minute to locate the correct coded string and you use your fingerprint to override the last issued command it contained. A shimmer flickers through all the lights in the cockpit and the A.I. reloads.

“Okay then, captain’s orders. Swap ownership and registration over to Suho. You’re officially his girl now.” It’s the least you can do. Hopefully this will be a nice gift to come back to.

**_Certainly._ **

“Thanks El.”

There’s a quaint, confused pause as the A.I. comprehends the nickname and you glance at the last of the coding sequence, looking through the string you just re-wired. The sound of raised voices floats up the open doorway and you take a deep breath, ignoring it.

A soft strain of music suddenly thrums through the cockpit, dulling the shouting and you smile. “Thanks.”

**_They’re arguing._ **

“Yeah, people do that sometimes.” A blinking section at the end of the code confuses you and you try to save the changes you’ve made but the projection keeps flicking back every time you go to swipe the screen off. “What am I missing here?”

**_You’ve reloaded my systems on a base coding level. This vessel is an EXO V registered model under Federation classification. A new registration class is now required to save and exit the coding base._ **

“Well…” You pause. “You helped me find the re-boot inside the database. How about from now on you’re just registered as yourself?”

**_I… do not understand, Captain._ **

You reach out and enter a letter at the end of the code, completing the registration once more. “There.” The sequence flashes complete and dissolves back into the projection but not before the whole string is illuminated for a moment.

_EXO-L_

You smile. Around you the lights in the cockpit glitter happily.

~*~

The midlevel clouds that you’re passing through are mostly altostratus; thin, wispy and flat allowing you to see through to the terrain not far below.  It’s been several hours in the air but you’re starting to recognise the tell-tale signs of the trade quarter so you can’t be too far from Chen’s apartment. You lever your legs down off the chair’s armrest where you’ve had them hooked over it and stand up. Autopilot is all well and good but you don’t want it landing this thing alone.

“El, scan for heat signatures in the designated landing area please. Top floor of the building.” You can’t be too careful.

**_Three lifeforms detected. All human._ **

_That’ll be Chen, Chanyeol and Sehun._ “Thanks.” You stretch and make your way off the bridge. “Refrain from landing until we have the pilot back.”

**_Affirmative._ **

Elbereth’s spine houses multiple hatch doorways that lead off to different bedrooms and living quarters. Most are empty and look to have been that way for some time if the dust is any indication. Some still have memorabilia from the last crew strewn around but it looks like an effort was made to bin most of that at some point by Suho _. Guess you don’t want pictures of some Fed’s kids sitting on the tables._

You trawl methodically though the rooms, even passing a large open doorway in the middle that leads to what looks like a common room of sorts; a ring of couches set around a low table and a makeshift kitchen set fill one half, a computer desk filled with schematics and a holo-projector viewer make up the rest. The remnants of a smashed mug by the wall explains the sound you heard earlier. You keep moving.

The final room is back towards the engine bay and you’re guessing this is Suho’s because it looks the most lived-in. _How strangely sad,_ you think randomly, _that he picked the room at the very back which meant he had to walk past all the other empty quarters to get to his own._

You hesitate in the doorway, taking in the room. It’s not filled with junk; you’re guessing mostly just a place to sleep when Suho wasn’t working at the warehouse but you can see funny, peculiar things stacked carefully about the place; an old-Earth movie poster that looks like it would fall apart by now if it weren’t framed on the wall, a decent chunk of now-unusable credit chips that have been fused into a molten ball (god knows how) on the desk, a small Millennium G2 9mm pistol on top of a stack of real, old-Earth books, a tangle of miniature multi-coloured lights along the headboard… Keepsakes of past adventures, you realise. You gently tap the head of a tiny lamp shaped like a rabbit as you pass the desk and approach the bed. Its tail cheerfully brightens and the soft glow adds to the room’s base lighting, illuminating the lump on top of the covers.

You reach out and gently wiggle Kai’s arm. “Hey,”

His head raises and he blinks at you over one shoulder, sleep falling away. “S’it time?”

You nod. “We’re approaching the landing zone.”

Kai nods and unfurls, revealing Suho curled up on his side under the covers. Kai nudges the bundle softly, pushing the tangle of red hair back from Suho’s forehead when he makes a noise. “C’mon, sleepyhead. Rise and shine.”

Suho’s eyes become visible above the sheets. His voice is soft. “What’s the ETA?”

“El?” You glance upwards. “How long till touchdown?”

**_Twenty minutes, captain._ **

“Still not quite used to that.” Suho mumbles, propping himself half up on one elbow and untucking a hand from the sheets, swiping it across his face. He pinches his nose and yawns. You respectfully flick your gaze away from his puffy eyes.

Kai swings his legs around and off the bed; one hand still stretched back, absently rocking the blanket burrito that is Suho. You notice the gauze carefully applied to the cuts under his ripped jacket sleeves. He looks up at you. “Have you been in touch with Chen and the others yet?”

“That’s my next call before we land so they don’t get a fright. This ship still has old Federation markings on it.” You lean back against the desk and lift one shoulder. “If we manage to not freak them out they’re gonna have a field day when they see this girl.” You take a breath. “Um, and thank you Suho, for letting us use her to escape. I didn’t say that earlier and I should have. A thousand times over.”

Behind Kai Suho has gradually unrolled and now slides off the bed, glancing back briefly as he moves in the direction of the bathroom door. “It’ll be nice to have voices other than mine in here,” he replies quietly. The bathroom light over his head flicks rather indignantly off once and then on again. Suho glances up at the ceiling. “Hey, you never talked to _me_.”

You cross your arms and smile. “So what’s with the ship’s name anyway? You found it funny before.”

Suho’s voice floats back out over the sound of a tap being turned on. “It’s elvish. Sindarin.”

You pull a confused, silent expression in Kai’s direction.

He chuckles, pointing at the stack of books sitting on the desk. You count three yellowed volumes now that you’re looking properly; all thick and very, very old. How they haven’t fallen apart by now is a mystery. “Suho’s a massive Tolkien nut. You ever read the Lord of the Rings?”

You tilt your head. “Once, many years ago. The name isn’t familiar to me though.”

“It’s from a hymn sung by the elves of Rivendell.” Kai supplies. “Elbereth Gilthoniel is better known as Starkindler amongst the Valar; she’s one of the greatest of immortals.”

“Woah, okay. That’s…” you watch Suho reappear, scrubbing his wet face with a towel. “Pretty cool. A little dorky but cool.” You laugh as Suho lobs the towel in Kai’s direction, smacking him neatly in the face with it.

“See? Cool.”

“Nothing changes.” Kai tugs the soggy material away and flashes a smug look, flinging it back to Suho who snatches it in mid-air before it can hit him. “You’re still a huge nerd.”

Suho drops the towel in a basket beside the bathroom door and narrows his eyes. Dragging his fingers through his damp fringe he pulls the remaining water droplets from it, merging them and levitating the tiny sphere of liquid to sit above his fingers. “I’m redirecting the hot water in your quarters from now on. Cold showers forever.”

Kai’s smile is serene. “I’d just steal yours.”

You grin and push off the desk, pleased at the lighter mood you can finally feel attempting to wiggle its way in alongside the dust and ghosts in here.

Point blank distractions, banter to bounce back off, space to be able to yell and scream (and throw things) when the feelings boil over and then a soft, safe place to sleep off the emotional comedown afterwards appears to have been the Kai-approved method of helping to settle Suho. _It’s a helluva good start._ “Okay, I’ll meet you both on the bridge.” You turn and waft a hand in the direction of the melted, fused mess of credits sitting on the desk as you leave. “And you two _are_ telling me about this one day, just so you know.”

“Oh that’s mine.” Kai huffs a laugh, standing and walking to the bathroom, poking the tiny globe of water off the top of Suho’s finger as he passes him. Suho aims a cuff at the back of his head and Kai ducks it. “But it’s really not _half_ as interesting a story as how we ended up with that bunny lamp.”

You think you hear Suho snort as you duck out the doorway. Elbereth hums softly and the fluorescent strip lights along the corridor floor race you back to the cockpit.

~*~

You have your tablet out and ringing as Suho and Kai step onto to the bridge, pacing in slow loops behind your chair. Chen picks up on the second ring, sounding breathless.

“Everything okay?”

You blink. “Hello to you too.”

“Sorry,” Chen’s voice is harried. “We didn’t know if we should call or not. The news just came on and we’re watching it now.”

“The…” _Oh._ “Did they broadcast the latest raid?”

Chen’s tone is all the answer you need. “Was it anywhere near you? I know that was the rough area you were headed into to find Suho.”

“Uh, yeah.” You step aside as both men pass you, seating themselves. “That ended up right on top of us actually.”

“Shit. Are you all okay?”

You slide into your own chair, feeling the pressure change when Suho turns off the autopilot and takes back control, beginning your descent. “We’re fine, I promise. We have Suho and apart from a few cuts none of us are hurt.”

Chen relays that to the others. “Okay, so what’s your position? Do we need to come and get you?”

“That’d be a definite no on that one,” you exhale a faint laugh, flicking up your view from the crest of Elbereth. “We’re not far from you guys now. How did Chanyeol go at the junkyard?”

“Not as successful as he’d hoped. He says his friend had a working ship but it’ll take us a good few weeks to salvage and retrofit enough parts to make it hyperjump capable.”

“Well in that case,” you watch the clouds whisk away, bringing the buildings below into clearer view. You can make out the top of Chen’s loft on the screen as it grows larger. “You guys might want to meet us on the roof.”

“The _roof?”_

“Yup.”

The call dissolves into a series of thumps and jostles as Chen calls for Chanyeol and Sehun and you hear them moving about the loft. Not long after you spot three small shapes cresting the fire escape and crowding at the corner of the complex rooftop. Your tablet warbles faintly, “Holy shit.”

Suho reaches up and flicks off the first two switches, diverting the booster power back to the thrusters. With a neat curve of the controls he swings the ship around in a smooth descent arc, bringing it in low and fast. With a practised ease on the power at the last moment he settles Elbereth smoothly into position just above the roof and flicks the final switches to rotate the thrusters into their vertical landing position. She lowers the last few meters, kicking up every scrap of dust around her, touching down pinpoint perfectly in the limited space with a satisfied hum of turbines.

You grin against your tablet. “Guess what Suho happened to have lying around.”

Chanyeol’s yell nearly drowns out Chen’s own elated reply. As soon as the engines are extinguished and the dust settles Sehun races around to the back ramp to be there for when you all exit, face alight. Tablet back in your pocket you descend the ramp and awkwardly return the abrupt, huge hug you’re suddenly enveloped in, almost lifting you off the ground.

Sehun mumbles into your shoulder, “Thank god you’re all safe. We were so worried.”

Chen piles in, dragging Kai into the mix and squeezes. You spot Chanyeol’s long arm yanking in a very startled Suho and then enveloping you all.

Your first instinct is to tolerate it and then squirm out but as you contemplate the move Baekhyun’s voice pokes very gently at your mind.

_Fancy that. Sometimes the most precious things really do find us when we’re not looking._

You blink over the side of Chen’s warm arm and see him a few feet away, smiling fondly, hands in his pockets.

 _We’re nearly there,_ you think back, allowing yourself to settle properly into the hug. _We’re leaving this fucking planet together, this whole misfit lot. Every last one of us._

~*~

Chen’s place is a tumble of boxes and packed bags. You stand for a long moment as everyone moves distantly around you, lost in thought. Looking down at the couch in the corner of his lounge room it seems strange - like a lifetime has passed already since you sat there lost and in pain, knowing only that you had to find Baekhyun; with no real plan to your name, only an idea of where to start looking for help.

Chanyeol hands you a compound block as he passes, still warm and soft from where he’s heated it in his palm. You’re startled out of your reverie by the offer and accept it with a silent squeeze of thanks to his fingers as you pick it up. He moves over, hands the other one to Suho and attempts to make friendly, hybrid small talk. You feel your mouth quirking up at one side, despite yourself.

_How things can change._

Chen is busy hauling objects from the vault in his room, aided by Kai who keeps meandering out to fetch more duffle bags from the closet. You follow him back in from one such trip and scratch your head. “You guys sure this is the definition of packing light?”

“It’s not by choice.” Chen drags a long, black leather bag out of the vault that looks like it could be used to haul a corpse. “If you want to leave one of these high-ionised plasma batteries lying around to corrode and burn through every floor on this building I’m happy to have that on your conscience, but not mine.” He hauls several small, glowing rectangular batteries out and carefully divides them into the latest pair of duffle bags Kai has supplied. “We can dump them safely on a deserted moon later.” He zips up the bag and hauls it over to the collection in the corner that Chanyeol and Suho had been ferrying out to Elbereth’s hold all afternoon. “That’s the last of the volatile stuff. Valuables next.”

You know when you’re not needed and back out quietly, acquiescing. The room next to Chen’s has the door pulled to and you nearly walk past it before pausing, backtracking and knocking gently. There’s no answer from inside but you haven’t seen Sehun in a couple of hours and you know there’s nowhere else he’d be except packing in his room. You push the door open a fraction further, lowering your voice in case he’s fallen asleep. “Sehun?”

The lounge’s light slices into the dim room like a sword, touching on the thick, closed curtains, the piles of laundry heaped about the place and an open suitcase sitting on top of a small chest at the foot of the bed, half-packed and forgotten. On the bed itself Sehun is sitting back on his haunches, back to you, looking down at something you can’t see from this angle. “Hey, everything all right?”

Sehun doesn’t reply but you can see his shoulders rising and falling so he’s breathing. _This is odd._ You open the door fully and step inside, pulling it closed behind you. “Sehun?” You cross the small space, around to the side of the bed so you can see what’s going on. “What’s the matte-” you pause, swallowing the rest of your words.

Between Sehun’s knees sits a small unfolded cloth; needles, a tourniquet, a lighter and several wrapped parcels of Rdium dot the surface of it. None of it looks used recently and all he’s doing is staring at it so you remember to breathe, reaching out a hesitant hand and settling it against the back of his head. “What’s going on in there right now?”

Sehun smacks dry lips, looking like he’s rising from a daze. “I found them while I was packing.” He murmurs. “Just sitting there in my top drawer. I don’t know how I managed to forget they were there even for a day or so but I did.” He makes a bitter sound. “Lay purged the withdrawals from my system but he can’t clear this.” He reaches up and takes hold of your hand, dragging it around to tap at his temple before letting it fall away. “The… urge is always there. It’s a part of me.”

You measure your next words carefully. “It doesn’t have to be. Not anymore. You’ve been given a free pass on the worst of the withdrawals by Lay so your system is essentially clean right now. This is where you can start fresh again if you so choose. You can fight that part of you.”

Sehun hums, picking up one of the miniature parcels and turning it over in his fingers. “I don’t think I’m strong enough,” he whispers sadly. Whether it’s to you or the drug you’re not quite sure.

“I have a room full of people outside who think you are. But the choice is up to you. You’re about to go off-world for the very first time and start a whole new chapter of your life out in the stars; remember that. This can be one of the things you leave here in the dirt. If you want to,” you add. “There’s a whole universe out there, waiting.”

Sehun drops the parcel back onto the cloth. His shoulders rise in an uneven breath and he nods, swallowing. “Can I… think about it? Before I make my choice.”

“Take your time, but remember that we’re all here to help and support you if you want to make the tough decision. I told you from the very beginning that we need you and that doesn’t change now. But we need a version of you that can be a part of this crew to the best of his abilities. In the next few days more than ever.” You stand, placing the compound block Chanyeol gave you on top of the cloth and gently patting his kaleidoscopic hair. “Ball’s in your court.”

Sehun nods, staring down at the objects in front of him, unseeing. You feel a vibration in your back pocket and move for the door. Something gives you pause and you glance back, calling his name. Sehun looks up.

“We care about you. All of us.”

You duck out and close the door behind you, not particularly wanting to leave him alone but simultaneously knowing that you can’t make his choices for him, much as you wish you could. Plus, you think as you tug the tablet from your pocket and swipe the screen on, everyone you know is currently in the same apartment as you are so that leaves only one person who would need to be ringing you to talk right now.

A singular X flashes on the caller I.D and you quickly press to answer it. “Hello?”

“What’s your status?” Xiumin’s voice sounds terse.

You round out into the living room and move into the open space of the kitchen, fishing a bottle of water out of the hydro vault. “We have everyone together. _And_ we have a ship. Thank you for the tipoff earlier. We got to Suho just in time.”

“Welcome. Where are you now?”

“Chen’s place.” You unscrew the cap and toss it in the trash. “We’re packing now. I wanted to talk to you first but if I suggested tomorrow night for our breakout attempt to the rest of the guys, is that enough notice for you to get the codes?”

“That won’t work.” You can hear a faint clicking in the background, almost like Xiumin is typing. Fast.

“Why not? Too little notice?”

“Too _much_ notice. I’ve just pulled the debriefing files. First thing at dawn tomorrow morning there’s a high-priority movement of two Class 5 hybrids from the holding facility.”

“What? Where to?”

“Off world. Directly to Alcatraz.”

You shake your head, confused. “So? Does that interfere with what we’ll be doing?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I had to access the sealed documents about the move from the Federal mainframe. Two hybrids, both with the most powerful classification that can be assigned to them. Which means they’re considered too dangerous to be kept on the surface any longer.”

“The earth hybrid from the first raid, yeah? And the other - did they net someone else today? I saw some pretty flashy stuff being thrown around out there so I’m not surprised.”

Xiumin pauses. “I have two names and blood test DNA breakdowns in front of me. One reads Do Kyungsoo. Class 5 hybrid. Genetic affinity: earth.”

“Yeah, okay.” You brace a hip against the counter and take a swig. “We figured that one.”

“The second reads Byun Baekhyun-”

The water bottle falls from your numb fingers, hitting the floor with a crack and spilling over, fluid covering the floor completely. The tablet follows, clattering to the tabletop. The others rush out from their various rooms at the sound but you barely hear Xiumin’s voice finishing off his sentence over the rush in your ears.

“-Class 5 hybrid. Genetic affinity: light.”

~*~


	10. Chapter 10

Darkness is the ever-present, far older brother to light. Before the illumination of the big bang created the building blocks of the universe darkness had always reigned supreme, unchallenged and alone. It stretches out around you now, spinning away into a cold twinkling universe as far as you can see. Sitting curled up in a pocket of that starscape with your hands over your eyes does very little to help; the pinpricks of light that bloom behind your eyelids as you press your palms to them are just as stark as the ones outside. Your voice is hollow as you whisper into the void.

_Are you real somehow? Right now?_

Baekhyun leans against the side of the invisible bubble that cocoons you both inside your mind as you spin through space. _No._

You exhale shakily, trembling. It’s still all in your head. That much you can understand. You—

_And yes. In a way._

Your head jerks up, numb fingers falling away from your face. _What?_

Baekhyun crosses his arms and looks down. A supernova blooms half a trillion miles away in the distance. _I’m… A small part of the me that you know is here right now, with you. I have been at brief moments since I was taken._

_No, I’m… I **know** I’m disassociating right now. It’s bad. It’s fucking deep but it’s all in my head._

Baekhyun shakes his. _It’s all in your eyes._

 _No._ You shove your hands back against your face, pressing _. It’s in my head and I can’t… I can’t remember, I can’t **think** , I--_

You feel a gentle pair of hands tug at yours, pulling your fingers away from your eyes. _Stop. Breathe. And listen to me._

You heave in a few breaths. _How can you be here? Really here?_

 _It’s nothing profound. I’ve never been that. This is just… light._ Baekhyun huffs out. _Everything we perceive with our eyes is only ever wavelengths on a spectrum and if I concentrate enough I can project onto that._

You squint. _Like a hologram?_

 _Sort of._ Baekhyun suddenly looks sad. _It’s just a magic trick._ He shakes his head, voice soft _. Light and mirrors. Nothing special._

 _Someone thinks you’re special. The goddamn Federation thinks you’re special enough to warrant sending you to fucking Alcatraz!_ You can feel your voice rising, unable to help it _. Why didn’t you **tell** me? All this time, all these fucking years Baek and you never once thought to tell me? Did you think I’d be narrow-minded enough to turn you in? _ You wrench your hands back, pushing away.

 _I never told you because this is the most pointless genetic curse anyone could ever have been born with. I have no power, no force… I can basically light up a goddamn lamp if I feel so inclined. Big fucking whoop._ Baekhyun’s expression is pained. _The only reason I’m doing this with you now is because you’re in shock and I’m unconscious._

You freeze. _What?_

Baekhyun stands, looking away _. I’m under sedation. I have been since my blood test results came in. Not as badly as the other one they brought in a day ago, though. They keep him heavily dosed at all times._ Baekhyun runs a hand up one arm as if cold, turning sad eyes to you. _I never thought I’d be tested when I was brought in. I’ve never shown this curse to **anyone**. Why would I? It’s fucking useless._

You swallow and push yourself to your feet, unsteady. _You’ve been classed as a category 5 Baekhyun, is there anything you’re not telling me?_

As soon as you get to your feet something flashes in the back of your skull; a disjointed memory playing in fragments like lightning illuminating a dark room every few seconds. You stumble and clutch your head. No, no…

The calendar on the wall reads four years ago. Baekhyun and you are sitting on cushions playing an old-Earth video game just like in the dream you so often have. Only… it’s not the room in the dream; it’s your own lounge room. You know this place. You’re home.

The shouting starts outside, raised voices in the street. Both you and Baekhyun are yelling at each other over the game too loudly to register it at first but your father hears and comes downstairs. You pay him no mind as he passes the pair of you, too busy shoving at Baekhyun’s hand to try and bump his character off the map.

Inside the bubble you feel your legs give way and you drop to your knees. Baekhyun dives for you, steadying you with a pair of hands on your shoulders. _Captain?_

You frantically shake your head. The lightning flashes again. You don’t want to see this. You **don’t** want to relive it. Anything but this. Stop, stop, **please** stop…

You should have paid more attention to what was going on outside that day. If perhaps you had... The broken memory plays out like a tortuous unwinding of an old film; jerky, disjointed and static-y.

The voices grow louder. Your father moves to the front door and opens it, peering out. A hand shoves him. Your brain valiantly tries to shield you one last time and the memory jumps, mixing with your own. Chanyeol pushes the guard outside the club face-first into the wall, dropping him. Your father is shoved backwards, stumbling back into the room with a gun to his head and a Federation officer yelling at everyone to move away from the two of you who are cowering beside the couch and to freeze. Xiumin’s snowflake of a schematic shimmers between you all as he explains the intricacies of the holding facility. A small, horrific creature slithers into the room on many-jointed tentacles, dark teeth oozing black fluid. Sehun reaches into the sentinel’s broken faceplate and yanks out a handful of dripping wires. The officer bellows at your father. Jangmi shrieks at Suho. You scream.

Baekhyun shakes your shoulders roughly.

Lay’s eyes glow. The flash of a high powered rifle cuts through the lounge room. Kai shoots the door guard in the head, point blank and you have to turn away. Your father falls. Sehun’s shotgun clatters out across the floor for Chen to pick up outside their front door. Blood. There’s so much blood. Kai’s jacket is covered in it as he’s splayed out on the couch. Your father’s gaze looks right through you as he lies on the floor, dead before he’s even bled out. The creature snaps at Baekhyun, rabid like an infected dog, pupils withdrawing and eyes shifting to a glowing white. The bag of credits Chen holds from the Madam glitters faintly in his palm. Baekhyun’s hand finds yours and he pulls roughly, dragging you scrambling out through the back door and to the street where you run. Chen hauls at you in the markets as you kick and scream for Baekhyun. You don’t understand… You don’t understand but you finally _see_ …

You collapse, tears streaming down your cheeks. Baekhyun’s hands withdraw and you feel the cold air on your shoulders in their absence. You choke on your tears, brain finally piecing together and confronting you with the source of your disassociations; the broken parts of the single memory that it’s been trying so hard to shield you from for so long. You grip your face as if holding onto your head will keep it from splitting apart, heaving in a huge breath.

 _That day._ Your voice is so thick with tears you know Baekhyun will instinctively know to what you’re referring. _That afternoon we thought was a godawful mistake or some kind of horrible fucking accident. They didn’t want the neighbours’ kids. They were after you, weren’t they?_

Silence fills the bubble. Your shoulders heave as you grit your teeth and feel the tears overflow down your cheeks and into your mouth. Your chest hurts. Oh god.

What the fuck was that **thing**? That… creature. Spines and tentacles and teeth moving like an oil slick made into a living nightmare. You’ve never had the full memory pieced together before. Not like this.

Vision blurry, you choke on your tears and finally scratch at your eyes until you can open them. Baekhyun sits curled into a small ball on the other side of the bubble, knees drawn up to his chest, arms tight around them like they’re his only life raft amid the stars surrounding you both. His voice is small.

_It was there for me. I’d never used my abilities in front of anyone - there was never any point. But they weren’t after your father; he only got in the way. He was just trying to protect us. I’m so sorry. God, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t know. I never meant for anyone to be hurt._

You scrub your face, dragging your palms across it roughly. A muscle across your shoulders spasms, pinched from your crying. Your voice when you finally find it again is raw _._

_What **was** it?_

_I don’t know. I never knew._

_Do you…_ God, thinking hurts. Your head feels like it’s on fire. You choke out the words, angry and afraid. _Do you think the Feds were in possession of it when they sprung us mid-deal? It’s never made any sense how they found us or why._

Baekhyun looks away, miserable. You try to wipe away the tears but they keep overflowing and running down your face. It reminds you of a cruel parody of all the times you’d both sit in silence as your ship flew ever onwards… Something pricks at you.

_All those times. Baekhyun all those nights where I’d disassociate on the ship… Where I talked to my father inside my head. That was you too?_

Baekhyun rests his chin on the top of his knees, the smallest he can make himself. _It seemed like the least I could do,_ he replies sadly. _Showing him to you in a way, if only for a short time. It seemed to bring you comfort._

Your hands shake. You can’t close them into fists properly _. What’s going on?_ You repeat it; the ultimate question. You spit out along with the salt on your tongue. _Why is all this circling around you?_

 _I don’t **know**. _ Baekhyun’s eyes fall closed, miserable. He shakes. _There’s no reason for them to have me listed as dangerous. I can’t spark a glowstick in a blizzard._

The phrase strikes you as familiar. After a moment you recall that you’d heard Chanyeol use it somewhere before. _That’s what someone else once said about weak hybrids._

Baekhyun’s chin slides off his knees until his forehead rests against them instead. He says nothing, small and defenceless and you still can’t quite equate that with the class 5 hybrid that’s about to be shipped off-world in dampening chains and heavy sedatives. You drop your own head, studying a distant spiralling galaxy spinning off between your feet in silence. Emptiness welcomes you with open arms and you grasp for it to dull the pain. Eventually even the tears run out.

_I’ll understand._

Your head rises again; sore and thumping with the aftermath of everything. How much time has passed? You clear a scratched throat. It hurts to speak. _What?_

Baekhyun speaks to his stomach, so quietly that you almost miss it. _If you don’t want to try and come for me anymore._

The hollow, empty feeling in your chest squeezes so tightly that you struggle to breathe. _What?_

_I’m weak right now under the sedation; I won’t remember these projections when I wake up so I’ll never know if you choose not to try. Now that you know what I am. It’s better that way._

_You--_ Pain and anger pushes you to your feet, wobbly and unsteady. Your mind feels like it’s burning up again. _You really think that low of me?_

Baekhyun shrinks back in on himself. _No, I… I’m just saying. If you don’t-_

 _You little..._ You growl, striding across the several feet between you both, reaching down and yanking the blonde-haired bundle of limbs to his feet. His head lolls back, eyes wet and the most afraid you’ve ever seen them.

 _You **honestly** think that’s on the cards? _ You shake him once, hauling him back on the return pull and into your arms, hugging him tightly. _Don’t you dare even **think** I’d leave you there to rot. You’re all I have._

A trembling pair of arms encircles your waist and you’re suddenly supporting the slumped weight of a softly crying hybrid. He hiccups once, twice _. You have so much more than me now, don’t forget that._

You clench your jaw, running a hand through his hair. _**We** have that. They’re all working to get you back. We’re not leaving here without you. I made a promise and now I **know** you heard it._

Baekhyun’s head drops to your shoulder, tears soaking through your shirt. After a few pained breaths he speaks again. _Take the other hybrid with us when you come to get me._ He swallows _. Please. Don’t leave him to be flown to Alcatraz._

You frown up at a shooting star as it whizzes past overhead _. The earth hybrid?_

_He has nightmares under the drugs. I can hear him. He’s all alone and everyone is afraid of him. They whispered about him even before they brought him in, like he’s some kind of dangerous animal they had to cage. Don’t let him die in a cell._

_That changes things._ You inhale, thinking rapidly _. We don’t really know him… but you’re both scheduled for transport so he’ll be within reach when we come for you._

Under your arms Baekhyun squares his shoulders _. I talked to him before they stuck an IV in us both; he’s a quiet kid. Never been in trouble. Likes to cook; he told me something as stupidly naive as that right before they strung him up. **Please**._

 _Okay. Okay, I’ll talk to the others and we’ll-_ you start, blinking like you’re dragging yourself out of a dream you’d almost forgotten _. The others._ You can’t hide in here weakened by your own memories; it’s no longer just about you. Hold it together for just a little longer. Grieve after. _I need to get back. Xiumin was telling me something important about tomorrow when I blacked out._

Baekhyun pulls away slowly, streaked face managing a wobbly smile. He pulls his shoulders back and smears his damp face when he scrubs at it, attempting to look brave.

_You know the way back. Make the decisions that sit right with you._

_Don’t be daft._ You place a gentle hand against his cheek and nod _. You already know what I’m going to do._

~*~

Air scratches your lungs like inhaling ash as you lurch upwards, dragging in oxygen. The ground underneath you feels strangely spongy to the touch and you look around, disorientated, realising belatedly that you’re on Chen’s couch, not the kitchen tiles any more. Chanyeol gives a yell and bolts over.

“She’s awake! Guys!”

You manage to lever up onto your elbows, a wave of dizziness keeping you from moving up any further. “Woah,”

The men crowd around, hands reaching for you, helping you to struggle into a sitting position. You don’t have the co-ordination to bat them away. The room tips slightly when you drop your skull back against the headrest. “How long was I out?”

A cold sensation nudges your hand. Cracking your eyes open and looking down reveals Chen kneeling beside the couch with a glass of water and a pair of tablets. You take them gratefully, downing the painkillers.

“Not long.” Kai is standing to one side of the chair next to Chanyeol. “What happened?”

“I fainted,” you hedge, swallowing as much of the water as you can. It reminds you of the bottle you dropped, of Xiumin’s call, of Baekhyun… “Is Xiumin still on the line?”

Sehun holds out your tablet. “He had to go all of a sudden. Sounded like someone was coming. He said he’d call back soon though.”

“Did he relay any of what he told me to you?”

Suho takes the empty glass from you and places it on the nearby low table. “That your friend is a hybrid. That he’s being moved along with the other big guy tomorrow morning. That doesn’t give us much time.”

“Did you not know he was a hybrid all this time?” Kai’s face is drawn into baffled lines. “How did he never slip up?”

“He’s never had reason or cause to use his ability; he doesn’t exactly have a functioning power he can draw on.” At everyone’s confused pause you try to explain. “Xiumin said his affinity was light. What’s that except a spark in a dark room? It’s not any kind of force or power. He passed for human because that’s essentially all he is.” You wave at Chanyeol. “Glowstick.”

Suho shakes his head, drawing his arms up to his chest and crossing them. “The Federation just stamped the highest classification they have on his head. That’s not a little glowstick. They must know something we don’t.”

“I’ve never even heard of a light affinity.” Kai looks around the group. “What could it be useful for?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “Maybe because it’s so delicate a power that most with it pass unnoticed. Or it’s rare.”

“It could be a genetic remnant of something else?” Sehun adds. “Leftover junk DNA from another ability that doesn’t manifest properly within the human host?”

The guesswork continues in circles until you finally cut in, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Projection is one use. Holographic manipulations to the wavelengths of light around us until we can perceive what’s being shown. That much I know at least.”

The chatter pauses, the men all peering down to you. Kai frowns.

“You’ve been… seeing things?”

“A little,” you admit. The expressions around you all flash up shock. “I’m not going mad; don’t look at me like that. Apparently Baekhyun’s been trying to reach me but they’re keeping both him and the other hybrid sedated and it was only today when the shock must have sent me under deep enough that he realised he had to explain it to me.”

“Just then? When you were unconscious?” Chen sits down beside you. “What else did he say?”

“He’s flashed in and out of my head a couple of times since he was taken but I assumed I was just disassociating. I… still do that sometimes.” You wave a hand at Chen’s sympathetic expression; he’s known you long enough. “But he helped me… remember something I saw once. Something I’d buried so far down inside another moment that I’ve been trying so badly not to relive that I’d all but forgotten it.”

“What?”

You pick up your tablet and scroll through to the bottom of the contact list. You hit the call button and Sehun yelps.

“What’re you doing? He said never to call unless it was an emergency.”

You initiate speaker mode and place the tablet on the edge of the couch between you all. “This qualifies.”

Xiumin picks up on the final ring, sounding angry. “What?” His voice reverberates like he’s tucked himself into a small space. “I told you-”

“I know why Cypher has been reactivated. I know how they’re starting to find those high grade hybrids all over the city.”

There’s a long pause filled with shuffling and finally the sound of a door being slammed shut. Xiumin’s voice when it returns is noticeably less loud. “What’s going on?”

The light from the upturned tablet screen throws eerie shadows around the room. “Both DO and Baekhyun have been labelled extreme cases as far as hybrids are concerned, right?”

“Correct.”

You look up at Chanyeol, Chen and Sehun; the three who have lived planet-side here the longest. “Has this planet ever experienced an earthquake before the other day?”

Chanyeol shakes his head.” Not since it was terraformed.”  
  
“So this hybrid has never activated his abilities on this planet for as long as anyone has lived here.”

Suho nods slowly. “Not until he was directly threatened.”

“And whatever it is he can do, Baekhyun never called upon his power in front of anyone. No one knew what he was, not even those closest to him.”

Kai shifts his weight from one foot to the other, thinking out loud. “So how were they the ones targeted by Cypher? That makes the least sense of all. They’re powerful but they were hidden.”

“I saw something. It’s… the worst memory I have and it was buried for a fucking good reason, but it cracked open tonight and I saw a part inside it that I’ve never understood properly until now.”

Xiumin’s electronically-transmitted voice is tense. “What?”

“Cypher has something. A creature. Some kind of alien bloodhound that’s helping the Feds track down the hybrids. Whether they made it or found it, I don’t know. But they have it and it’s vicious. It’s why they came directly for Baekhyun and I earlier in the week when we were meeting Chen and how they targeted DO with such precision.”

Suho looks like something has physically slapped him, almost as if the mere thought of such a creature is terrifying. “How could you know this?”

“Because I’ve seen it once before. A long time ago, before Cypher had the funding to give it a place and a purpose it was already being tested. It came for Baekhyun. Only we didn’t realise that at the time; I always thought it was an operation gone wrong. My neighbours had a couple of children and we thought maybe the Feds had been there for them on a tipoff to put them in dampening collars and it accidentally spilled into my house. But those kids barely made tiny whirlwinds in the leaves in their spare time.” You shake your head, hunching in on yourself. “That… _thing_ knew Baekhyun the moment it saw him. It reacted. They were there for him, not the children. And they killed my father to get to him.”

There’s silence on Xiumin’s end for a long while. Finally the tablet speaker crackles again. “If something like that did truly exist, it’d be kept somewhere incredibly secure and be so deeply classified that I’ve never even heard of it.”

“Except it’s not hidden away, not now. We know that it’s on this planet - in this city. And there’s only one large Federal holding facility this side of the continent. The one Baekhyun and DO are in.”

“And what? What are you planning to do?”

“We go in for both DO and Baekhyun. And if that thing is there tomorrow and we come across it, we destroy it.”

Xiumin’s sigh floats out of the tablet. “This is a retrieval mission. Rescue and retreat. Nothing more.”

Chanyeol steps closer to the tablet and bends down slightly. “If that creature is how they’ve been spot-targeting powerful hybrids then the Feds conceivably have on their hands a direct pathway to every one of them out there. You told us - once proved successful they want to roll Cypher out as far as they can. It’s only a matter of time; no one will be safe no matter where they hide. The captain and Baekhyun weren’t even on this planet when they last saw it.”

You pick up on what Chanyeol means. “My home world was several quadrants away, Xiumin. Its taken years because we moved about so much with our work but that thing has finally followed Baekhyun here. We’re taking Lay off this planet but once it realises what _he_ is, there’s going to be nowhere for him to hide.”

There’s an angry, muffled sound and a dull thump like flesh meeting metal. Xiumin’s voice returns a moment later, stone cold.

“I’ll look into it. Finish your packing and have your ship prepped to fly first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll have you the codes by midnight.”

~*~

Your reflection in the mirror looks vastly uncomfortable as it copies your motions, buttoning the last of the grey Federation jacket closed under your chin. You don’t blame it. You want to crawl out of your skin.

Sehun walks past the doorway of the quarters inside Elbereth that you’ve claimed as your own, tugging at his own grey collar. “Anyone else feel like they have hives?”

Earlier in the evening Suho had helpfully dug up some old Federal uniforms from the previous crew’s junk he’d boxed on the ship. None of you were exactly impressed at the idea of donning them but you also knew you couldn’t walk in dressed as you were. So… on they went.

You slide your Sig into the waistband of the equally awful grey pants and tug the back of the jacket down over it. At least they’re designed for concealed carry; there’s hardly a lump in the lines of the uniform. You dig your sunglasses out of your old jacket pocket where it lies draped over the chair and place them a little regretfully on the empty desk. No need for those at night, even if the retinal display would have been useful.

They perch silently there next to the egg; the only objects in so much otherwise empty space. There’s almost nothing else in this room to signify that it’s yours and it’s a little sad to see. Everyone else is busy throwing their junk around their assigned quarters and piling in the last of the supplies. It makes you a little melancholy. You take a breath.

“El?” Time?”

**_Twenty one hundred hours, captain._ **

Right. You walk out of your quarters and make for the common room; until take-off you’ve all been congregating there at times in between hauling bags and boxes on board. You enter it from the spine to find Chanyeol and Suho loading the hydro vault with blocks and water. You can’t help but smile as Chanyeol straightens; he’s the only one still in jeans. Apparently there were no leftover uniforms in the makeshift collection with pants quite long enough to fit him. Chanyeol spots your face.

“I know what you’re laughing at,” he says as he picks up the empty duffel bag and passes you.

“No idea what you’re talking about.” You shut the door to the hydro vault as Suho peers around the back of it, checking the cords on the makeshift stove nearby.

Chanyeol sniggers and moves to go fetch another bag but Suho calls him back with a distracted wave of his hand. “Hey can you turn this on so I can see if it still works?”

“You never used it?” Chanyeol obediently flicks the knobs at the front while Suho keeps peering around the back. You move away and perch on the arm of one of the couches.

“Seemed redundant to cook a big meal for just myself.” Suho mutters, out of view. “How’s that look?”

Chanyeol wafts his hand over the burners. “Nothing.”

“Damn.” Suho straightens. “Guess we stop off at the nearest trade moon next week and see if we can get something else.”

That thought bounces around inside your head and gives you pause. The idea that you’ll all still be here a week, a month from now… You’ve not been thinking beyond focussing on getting Baekhyun and getting everyone out without dying, but maybe… Just maybe you all won’t lose everything on this stupidly suicidal mission. It’s a revolutionary idea.

Chanyeol is still poking at the stove when you blink back to the room, lifting the circular heating elements and replacing them. “You’ve got gas, just no ignition.” He flicks the switch for the flame on and off again. “See?”

“Ah,” Suho looks sheepish. “Thanks. Kai did most of the cooking for us when he was here, not me.”

“Do I hear my name being used in vain?” Kai rounds into the room, head down, tucking his shirt in. The corners of his grey jacket flap about him as he walks. He looks up and grins.

“Your friendly girlfriend here was just telling me how you’re the cook out of the two of you.” Chanyeol crouches down in front of the stove and inspects the gas. Suho pulls a face and curls his fingers. A small sphere of water forms above Chanyeol’s head, unnoticed.

Kai darts forward, scooping up an old mug from the table. “That’s only because he burns everything he touches,” he quips smoothly, reaching out and capturing the floating water bubble with the cup as he passes before it can be dropped on Chanyeol. Suho laughs silently and flips him off. Kai deposits the mug in the sink. “What’s the issue with the stove?”

“Just needs a new sparker.” Chanyeol stands, clicking his fingers next to one of the elements. The gas underneath it obediently ignites, heating the coil gently. “I can work it in the meantime.”

“Thanks. That’ll help until we can get it fixed.” Kai steps back and finishes buttoning his jacket up, settling it neatly over his twin holsters. “Gotta be someone on a moon somewhere who can fix old-Earth stuff.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol runs his hand through his hair. “Hey do you guys mind now that most of the stuff is loaded if I take the first round of sleep? I didn’t get much the other night.”

You recall the hours he’d spent on his tablet while everyone else slept. “Yeah, easy done. We can do sleeping shifts in pairs until midnight.”

“Okay, cool. I’ll grab Sehun and we’ll take the first set.”

You watch him wander out. Kai follows, folding up the last of the duffle bags. Suho levers the crooked stove back into place beside the hydro vault. You dangle a foot where you’re sitting, curious. “Are you still comfortable with getting us in past the Federal air traffic control?”

“It’s been a while since I‘ve done it but the basics shouldn’t have changed that much.” Suho shrugs. “As long as they don’t run a database scan of the markings on our tail I can bluff us through.”

“And if they do?”

He looks suddenly serious. “Then mission immediately aborted and we get the hell out of there. This ship might still have a tag on it as being stolen and I’m not risking us being shot down if a flag comes up on their system. Although Kai and I banged it up pretty good on our getaway so the general might have just listed it as destroyed.”

You lean your weight gently backwards on the arm of the couch until you topple all the way down onto the cushions. “Just add that unknown factor to our already large list of them,” you tell the ceiling. This phase of waiting before the final move is grating on your nerves. The uniform certainly isn’t helping.

Suho pats the back of the couch as he passes it. “I’ll get you in. You just have to find Baekhyun and DO. As long as you can bring them to the ship I can get us past any fighters they scramble, I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“Although if you find that thing in there, don’t you dare let it on the ship. Kill it if you have to.” He rounds the other end of the couch near your head and pauses, looking down at you. “How… how are you holding up by the way?”

You keep your eyes on the ceiling’s strip lighting. “Internalising and ignoring everything apart from what we have to focus on right now until this is all over and I can break down properly,” you answer bluntly. Suho shuffles in your peripheral, probably not quite expecting that.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your father. We all are.”

Your eyes slip closed. “I genuinely appreciate that more than I can articulate right now.”

You feel a gentle squeeze on your shoulder, a pause and then Suho’s footfalls recede away into the spine. You open your eyes again.

“El? What’s the time?”

**_Half an hour since you last asked._ **

“Smartass.”

The ceiling strip lighting flickers off and on again.

~*~


	11. Bonus music playlist




	12. Chapter 12

Dead on the stroke of midnight your tablet rings. Blindly you fling your hand up to grab for it on the pillow beside your head, nearly slapping yourself in the face. Pawing at the screen to activate the call you bring the device to your cheek and roll over to pin it there. “X’min?”

“You were asleep.”

“Top observational skills there, agent.” Yawning clears your head a fraction. “What gave it away?”

“I’ve changed my mind; no codes for any of you after that.”

Your eyes crack open in the dark. “Did you just make a joke?”

Xiumin snorts, a soft sound. “I’ve been repeatedly informed by Lay that I don’t have a sense of humour.”

“We can change that.” Your eyes adjust to the low lighting and each slow blink brings the sparse outlines of your quarters into view. “You don’t hang around Sehun without developing a decent repertoire of comebac-” you squint, pushing yourself up onto one elbow.

“What is it?”

You reach out a slow hand and place a fingertip on top of an object that you know damn well wasn’t there when you went to sleep for your shift earlier. It now sits innocuously on your bedside table, breaking all the emptiness.

The fused ball of credit chips rocks with the movement when you touch it and you smile, a soft warmth infusing your chest. “Just something in my room. You were saying about codes?”

“I have the sequences if you have a way to record them. One pair: entry and exit. They’re good for twelve hours which is far more time than you’re going to ever need.”

Peeling your face off the pillow you sit up and swing your legs around, picking up the tablet and resting it on your knees. “I can write them on my device. Hit me.”

Xiumin relays the access and egress codes, finishing with, “Is everyone ready? You only get one shot at this.”

“Don’t I know it.” Chen’s and your shift of sleep was the last so everyone else should be awake by now. “But we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be I suppose. Can’t ask for much more.”

“Good.” There’s a rustle like Xiumin just sat down. “You know this is the last time we’ll speak directly before you begin. If you call again this line won’t be connected. Is there anything you want to check on or ask me while I’m here?”

You sigh, having expected this cut-off but also hoping it wasn’t ever coming. “I want to say thank you. For… everything. You’ve helped us more than we can ever repay.”

“Repay me by getting Lay off this planet safely. That’s all I ask.”

“How is he? Have you spoken to him since we were all together?”

“I contacted him last night. I wanted to tell him about the creature and your friend. The whole topic seemed to trouble him and he hung up early.”

 _How strange_. “That creature. Yes. Did you find out anything more about it?”

“I accessed the mainframe but I can only get as deep as my clearance allows. From what I could find the earliest coded entries about it appear to be from the same time period as the first generation gene splicing attempt.”

“The first- you mean the original soldiers? The ones that were grafted to help us win the war?”

“Looks like it.”

“But…” You have to stand; you process things better on your feet. “All the soldiers spliced with the original EXO nanotechnology developed from those first twelve military volunteers fought in the First War. Xiumin this means that thing is _hundreds_ of years old. Where the fuck did it come from?”

“You’re not going to like the possible answer.”

Pacing brings you to your desk and you stop short before you bump into it, flicking on the lamp. “I’m a big girl, you can tell me.”

To your surprise a fragile-looking book now sits beside the egg on the desktop, placed there carefully while you were sleeping. You trace a finger around the letters on the battered cover. It’s hard to remember when you last felt printed paper.

“I’m finding references to a splicing program conducted in secret. This thing is blackwatch; it’s been kept buried behind layers of protocol and political silence. But what’s not been blanked out or erased on the documents refers often to something called a classified yield of parasitic haemathermal extraterrestrial research.”

You pause, running that phrase over on your head. _Warm-blooded extraterrestrial research… what the fuck._ “EXOs were warm-blooded; it’s what made their DNA a better match for ours.” Your voice drops to a whisper. “What the hell was the government doing? Did they _create_ this monster from the same scavenged alien DNA they put into the soldiers?”

“It’s all I could find. But those codes you now have are a higher clearance than mine.” Xiumin speaks slowly, carefully. “So if you happen to come across anything that looks like what I just told you while you’re looking for Baekhyun…”

You smirk down at the cover of the book. “I thought this was a retrieval mission only.”

“I’m not officially telling you to do anything. I’m just saying… follow your gut instinct. Sometimes it’s all we have.”

“Thank you.”

There’s a pause and you can tell the conversation is over, but before the line goes dead you have to ask.

“Hey Xiumin?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think we have a chance? At pulling this all off and making it out alive?”

“I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of killing two men to get you their codes if I didn’t.”

You pull the tablet away from your ear, stare at it and then put it back again. “You’re doing that thing again where I think you’re joking, right?”

You can hear the usual ice fade from Xiumin’s voice for a fraction of a second. “You’ll do this. You’re no longer alone.”

Lifting your finger from the cover of the book you stare down at the old-Earth script you’ve been tracing. The words stare back at you.

_The Fellowship of the Ring._

The line clicks off and you close your half of the connection, dropping the tablet gently into your pocket.

~*~

Everyone is sitting around the low table in the middle of the common room as you enter, makeshift sketches of the facility drawn from the memory of Xiumin’s schematic spread out in between them. The smell of coffee wafts up as you approach. Chanyeol shifts to make room between himself and Sehun, holding out a steaming mug. Chen is already awake and cradling his.

You take it with a grateful word of thanks and sink down, trying to make your brain cells line up. “What have we got?”

Suho leans forward. “We’ll be approaching from the east; that’ll at least put the sun in the eyes of their fighters if we need to turn back and get out of there straight away for any reason. If Elbereth is positively identified or something.”

You nod. “If we _do_ get in and finish this we’re hitting atmo and clearing the planet the moment we get back out with Baekhyun and D.O. How’s the air traffic looking for a clear path up?”

“Direct line. All the usual morning transport departures won’t kick in until the sun is higher for obvious safety reasons.”

Kai extrapolates at Sehun’s quizzical look. “It means Suho will be flying with the sun at a less than optimal angle for him but we’ve done a run like this before and it’s manageable.”

Chen peers over his mug and down at the sketches. “Okay so assuming Suho is staying on board to keep the engines hot, that leaves the captain, myself, Chanyeol, Sehun and Kai to go in.”

You mull this over. “Worst case scenario we might need cover fire getting back to the ship if anything goes wrong. That means someone needs to stay back and I’ll instruct Elbereth to transfer weapons permissions to them. We can’t ask Suho to fly and fire at the same time.”

Sehun raises his hand. “I’ll cover that part. I can’t exactly conceal-carry my shotgun in there. Plus this monkey suit makes me want to scratch my own skin off.”

“Okay, can do. Remind me before we berth.”

Chanyeol has been leafing through the sketches and now places them in what looks like some kind of order, pointing as he speaks. “As best we can figure out we have the landing docks at the back of the complex with a single entranceway into the building, the main ring with two tiers of holding cells for the inmates that surround a central control tower, a medical block one floor down and a front section of offices with a general reception area for the public. Artillery towers around the entire perimeter.” He shuffles the specific page out that contains the medical rooms. “The captain said Baekhyun and D.O are under sedation so this is where they’re most likely being held. There’s no direct line from any of the med bays to the docks so to meet the Alcatraz transport they’ll have to bring them up to the ground floor where all the holding cells are and then out from there.”

You turn your head sideways to take in the drawing. “Okay, best bet is to get to them before they’re transported upstairs. Once the Feds start to move them they’ll be under heavy guard because of their classification. So we need to get in, get the drug out of their systems and bring them out ourselves.” You tap the page that contains the prison facilities. “I also want to have a look at that central command tower.”

Kai cocks his head, tugging the pillow from Suho’s lap into his own as he leans forward. “Why?”

Looking up brings your gaze into contact with the rest of them. “Xiumin sourced us access codes with high enough clearance to help us find where they’re stashing that creature in there and destroy it. And for that we need the facility’s mainframe access.”

“Wow.” Chen gives a low whistle. “What’d he do? Kill his superior for them?”

“Uh,” you slant your eyes away. “Not exactly sure on that one.” Draining the contents of your warm mug in several long pulls, you push yourself to your feet. “Right, wings up in half an hour.”

An astonished, curiously horrified silence follows you out.

~*~

The clouds are low and heavy in the pre-dawn darkness as Elbereth soars just below them. Suho keeps her at a steady cruising altitude, low enough that from where you’re standing just behind him you can see the twinkling city lights spread out, streaming past below.

“El? ETA?”

**_Approximately two minutes, captain._ **

You nod, arms crossed. Suho flicks his holographic display around so you can see the night vision scan he has going. He points to a large, clearly defined building rapidly gaining size as you approach and presses the hologram, sending out a preliminary landing request. “Ready?”

As if on cue the towers surrounding the docking bay swing their heavy artillery towards your ship and the dashboard transmission crackles to life, displaying the square-jawed, close-cropped head of a Federal air traffic controller.

“ _Unscheduled craft, you are requesting to approach a Federation facility. State your designation number and purpose._ ”

You hear footsteps behind you and the rest of the crew file into the bridge, hovering just out of line of sight of the Fed. Suho angles the display so that only the two of you are clearly visible.

“This is a Federation Class 03K64 Maelstrom vessel, requesting permission to berth. Our mobilisation orders only came through late last night. Access code alpha being transmitted now.”

The figure on the screen looks down at whatever computer he has in front of him and you clench your hands under your crossed arms, unseen. Suho eases back on the throttle, dropping Elbereth into a shallow holding pattern. Every tower methodically locks on.

The Fed pokes at a few buttons as Xiumin’s access code appears on his end. A frown crosses his face and he looks momentarily confused. “ _You were mobilised last night?_ ”

Suho threads a hint of annoyance into his voice. “Yes sir, our orders came from General Velen himself; this vessel represents him on interplanetary matters. You’ll find the code should be valid from midnight.”

 _“I… let me check something. I just need to co-authorise this._ ” The guard looks away, taking to someone you can’t see and you eye the artillery on the towers nervously. Suho leans closer and cuts in, calling his bluff.

“Sir if you want to question this you can take it up with the General himself but trust me, if you wake him up at this hour it’s your head he’ll have, not mine.”

You share a glance with him as the Fed leans back into view; Suho’s hand drifts to the left, hidden from view and hovers over the shield disc, just in case.

“ _Let me just get this straight… your orders are to berth for half a day?_ ”

“Yes sir. Our codes are for twelve hours. This is just wasting my time…” Suho’s voice is stern; every inch a General’s flagship pilot with a valuable cargo and little patience for being toyed with. “And the weather behind us isn’t looking good.”

You flick your eyes up as one of the towers slowly changes its weapon position and points towards Elbereth’s side, a thin laser beam igniting and tracking along towards the tail. “Suho,” you hiss, looking away from the screen to hide your words. “They’re scanning our markings.” You’re going to have to abort if they pull the numbers and it comes up as stolen… fuck, fuck…

Suho drops his hands away from both the disc and the flight controls, brings them to his lap and sits up straighter. “We don’t have time for this shit,” he mutters, frustrated, rolling his shoulders back and curling all fingers on both hands into his palms.

As you watch the laser almost reach the tail a fat water droplet suddenly lands on the windshield, then another, and another… A faint rumble sounds from overhead. The heavy clouds above you sink lower, cracking open with a flash of distant lightning. Rain thunders down, smearing the glass into an unrecognisable mess of running water.

“Controller, the front we’ve been dodging the whole way here has caught up while you’ve been keeping us in this pointless holding pattern.” Suho ignites the thrusters and raises his voice to be heard over the crackling of the transmission as the storm interferes with the signal, sparking the image of the Fed in and out like a bad old-Earth television. “I have the General’s cargo on board and our codes are good. Requesting permission to berth before the conditions become too unstable.”

The force of the building storm buffets Elbereth, rocking you slightly in the air. “Hold onto something,” Suho mutters, reaching up and flicking the first thruster into its vertical position.

“ _Fed—ation vessel_ 03K64 _the squall is interfer—g with the transmi—ion.”_ The controller looks harried; the holographic image of his face flickering in and out. _“We were not expect—g th— kind of inclement w—ther. We sugg—st you turn bac- now and fin- a safe bert- elsewh—e._ ”

“Cannot do, sir. The nearest civilian berth doesn’t open until dawn. Requesting _permission_.” Suho intones firmly. Last chance. The laser beam wavers; unable to get a clear reading on Elbereth’s markings through the interference of the rain thundering down.

You see the staticky holo-image flicker on and off again and the controller is talking once more to the fellow agent standing off-camera to his side. You can’t make out the words and have to grab hold of the framework above your head as Elbereth pitches, thrusters working overtime to keep her stable. Suho glances down from the screen as the agent is engaged in a heated discussion with his co-worker and you catch the faintest blue tinge to his eyes. The storm builds and rages, whipping the rain around the building nearly horizontal.

The other Fed’s black-gloved hand gestures angrily in the peripheral of the screen and the agent looks kowtowed, finally punching in the acceptance of the code. Around you the rain-smeared outlines of the tower artillery lower, powering down.

“ _Thank_ you _._ ” Suho grates, punching the thrusters into descent mode. Elbereth soars in past the towers, looping around to an empty bay that obligingly lights up.

The flight controller looks flustered. “ _Auth—sation confirm-. Ac-ess grant-d._ ”

Suho reaches out and crossly closes the channel, the agent’s distorted face disappearing. You sag slightly, only your grip on the framework keeping you fully upright. “Jesus.”

Chanyeol steps forward now that the screen is off, movements wavering as Elbereth is knocked about. “Impressive.”

The ship jostles on the descent as Suho spins her 180 degrees above the designated landing pad to face the correct position. “Was really hoping I wouldn’t have to do this but they started scanning our markings and we were out of options; everything would have been over before we began.”

The docking clamps connect with a clunking sound, finally settling the ship into place. Suho draws in a deep breath and the squall eases slightly, the rain becoming vertical once again. “I’ll keep it up for another half an hour so no one gets suspicious. You’re all going to get a little wet going in.”

Sehun and Kai come up beside you and that jogs your memory. “El? Transfer weapons permissions to next DNA readout.” You snag Sehun and guide him to your chair by the wrist, helping him place his thumb correctly on the reader there. “This is Sehun.”

**_DNA fingerprint transfer complete. Temporary weapons systems permission granted. Welcome._ **

“Thank you.” You peer down at the twinkling lights on the armrest. “Hey El? Look after these two for me while we’re all gone okay?”

The bridge lights ripple gently. **_Affirmative, captain._**

Sehun glances around as Suho powers down to minimal engines and you pick up on it. “What’s up?”

He licks his lips; a familiar tell. “Can I talk to you for a moment before you guys leave?”

“Sure.” You angle yourself away from the others. “What is it?”

Shuffling on the spot Sehun finally meets your eyes. “Come back safe.”

You squint at him. “Really planning on it…” you reply slowly. “I can promise you that.”

“Good. Good. Look I…” he fumbles, looking annoyed at himself. Finally he grunts out, “Come with me.”

Confused, you trail him out and along the spine. He practically pushes you through the hatch to your quarters as he passes and then continues on to his own. You pull a face at the bare walls and wait.

As you do something catches your eye and you step forward. Unnoticed in your sleepy state earlier, a thin silver flask you last remember seeing in a certain fireball’s repair shop rests on your desk chair. Underneath it, folded enough times that it’s a small, fluffy square sits one of the maroon blankets that used to adorn the spare bed you often claimed as your own when you visited Chen’s loft.

Emotion squirming its way up your windpipe, you reach out a hand that refuses not to tremble and lift the objects carefully, placing them alongside Suho’s book. Picking up Kai’s credit ball from your bedside table you arrange the small collection of items across the desk, nudging them into a neat little line. The men have quietly in their own little ways made sure that your tiny, empty room is suddenly not so empty. You clear your throat, swallowing the lump there back down.

A knock at your door makes you spin and Sehun hovers there, something you can’t see clutched tightly to his chest. He takes a hesitant step over the lip of the door hatch and looks at the collection of small items on the desk. “We uh… It seemed sad that your room was the only one without anything in it.”

You huff a laugh but it comes out a small, overwhelmed sound. “Thank you. I… It means the world.”

Sehun steps forward fully, finally holding out the small black bundle of cloth in his grip. “This isn’t something you’re going to want to put out on display but it’s um…” he fidgets as you take the object from him, feeling the contents clink together. “It’s more of a promise.”

You peel back a corner of the cloth and the objects inside catch the light, glinting; several capped needles and Rdium packets. You look up at Sehun and he nods.

“I’m not going to need them. Not anymore. I just- fuck I’m sorry.” He reaches out a hand. “This is really a horrible thing to give you for a present. I should have thought it through better and-”

You grip the bundle tighter. “It’s the perfect thing,” you reassure him softly. “You couldn’t have given me anything better.”

Relief washes over Sehun’s face and he nods, shoving his hands into the pockets of the much-hated Federation uniform he’s still wearing. “I’m going to do better, I promise.” He speaks half to you, half to the ground. “From now on. You’re all going to come back alive and we’re going to have so many people on this little ship and Chen said he’d teach me the names of the different galaxy’s planets. I want to be sober enough to remember all this.”

You blink damp eyes, keeping everything from spilling over. Placing the bundle on the desk you reach out and draw Sehun into a hug, squeezing him tightly. “We’re all going on an adventure after this,” you promise, pressing the words against his shoulder. “A real one. So glad to have you here for it.”

Sehun nods, half crushing the air out of you before stepping back. He takes a deep breath and squares himself. “Let’s do this.”

~*~

Checking the spare clips in your pockets for the umpteenth time you walk across the metal catwalk that rings Elbereth’s hold, reaching the end and swinging yourself down onto the ladder.

Several steps down your boots hit the ground floor and you turn around to see all the men waiting beside the closed ramp. You nudge through them towards it, squeezing fingers of the hands you pass in a move that you dearly hope conveys enough of your appreciation for their thoughtfulness as you can express in this rushed moment. Each set grips back briefly and you reach the hold wall, slamming your free hand on the button that releases Elbereth’s ramp.

The rain streams down from the widening gap as the metal lowers, connecting the tarmac with a deep clang. Gripping your collar tight against the deluge you glance back at the three others accompanying you and step out, ducking into the downpour.

Clearing the space between Elbereth and the side of the facility feels like it takes forever and you’re practically soaked to the bone by the time you cross the tarmac. Shielding your tablet with one dripping arm you hold it against the scanner at the back door, allowing Xiumin’s access code to be read. The heavy door clicks open and you usher Chanyeol, Kai and Chen in, dropping to the rear to haul the door shut. It closes behind you with an ominous-sounding thud, leaving the four of you alone in a long corridor.

Chen scrubs a hand through his drenched hair, pushing it back from his forehead. “We’re in.” He sounds mildly disbelieving. “Cell block entrance should be the last door to the left.”

Chanyeol shakes himself like a huge dog. “I _hate_ being cold and wet.”

Kai grins and smacks him on the arm as he passes, his own silver hair sticking in all directions. “Toughen up, little spark.”

You grab them both and turn everyone in the direction you need to go. “Professional,” you hiss, spotting several Feds in matching uniforms emerging from one of the doors halfway down. “Suho and Sehun aren’t sitting out there with half a dozen artillery towers looming over their heads for us to fuck up and die before we get anywhere.”

Everyone obediently falls silent and you all make your way past the oncoming agents in the hallway. You nod in what you hope is an amenable way; the Feds ignore the lot of you and that suits you just fine.

The final door in the hallway also has a scanner on it and Xiumin’s code allows you to bypass it with ease. It opens up into a huge, noisy, circular room; several stories high and full of dirty, rusted cells, row after row. Your eyes lock onto the central observation tower that sits alone, taller than everything else. Up the very top in the glass bubble you can see several officers backlit by screens. “We need to get up there.” You keep your voice low; the ground floor is filled with milling agents on patrol. They’re everywhere you look, stalking the catwalks outside the cells, pacing with chained inmates being moved about for god knows what reason, coming and going from the administration area at the front… it gives you chills to be standing this close to so many of them.

Kai leans closer on the pretence of casting a long glance around the room. “Only way up is the transport pad.”

You hadn’t noticed the small pad recessed on the floor at the foot of the tower but now that you’re looking a Fed materialises in a shimmer of light and steps off it. Aha.

Squinting back up to the top you notice that with one of the guards now having left it, the bubble contains only a single guard left over. Now or never. “Chen once we’re up there can you lock the pad so no one disturbs us?”

“I can try.” Chen casually eyes several of the agents as they pass in front of you, his voice low. “But we can’t take long or they’ll get suspicious. And a solid glass dome isn’t exactly the place you want to be when that happens.”

“Got it. Shut it down for ten minutes. If I can’t get us what we need by then we’ll get out and make for the med bay.”

Chanyeol peers up as well. “Are we waiting for the other guy to vacate first?”

“Nope,” you start for the pad. “I’d rather take one out than two if that second one comes back.”

 The corner of Kai’s mouth lifts and you grab his elbow before you set foot onto the pad base. “Incapacitate, don’t kill. Gunshots will bring them running.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, squeezes past you both and steps onto the pad first, disappearing in a flash of light and redistributed molecules. You drop Kai’s arm and follow hurriedly.

The four of you materialise one after the other and your vision comes back online in time to see the guard spin in his chair and stand up, striding towards you. “Hey never more than two personnel in-”

Chanyeol drops, sweeping a leg out. The agent topples backwards and Kai assists the movement, lunging forward and grabbing the man by the throat, slamming him to the ground. His skull contacts the metal and within a second the Fed is out cold.

Chen rapidly fiddles with the wiring in the control panel he’s pried open next to the pad and Kai stands, cocking his head towards you as if to ask ‘happy?’ You pat him on the shoulder as you pass, leaning over the desk to the console secured there. Dozens of monitors surround it; most of them closed circuit security feeds from around the facility. Chanyeol looms over your shoulder and points to one image slowly swinging back and forwards in a small, white room. “Look.”

Two figures lie prone on sterile, sheetless beds in one end of the room; one blonde, the other brown haired. Both hooked up to ugly intravenous drips that trail from thin wires hooked into bags between them. _Baekhyun. D.O._ So close. You press your fingers over the screen and then have to drag your eyes away, back to the monitor that you came up here for. “Kai, Chanyeol, keep an eye out. If anyone looks like they’re trying to get up here, let me know.”

You bring up the database for the facility and access the bare bones of the layout, looking for the code string that without fail has been in dozens of Federation buildings you’ve broken into in the past. Predictable, stupid clones of each other, there’s _always_ a heat signature register in the system somewhere to keep track of how many bodies are in the buildings at any given time. And with _this_ place being nothing short of a prison there’s no way they wouldn’t want to constantly monitor everyone. And if this thing is warm blooded like Xiumin said, it’s going to give off a heat signature… 

Kai and Chanyeol spread out on either side of you, keeping a watchful eye on the monitors for any sign of disruption. You initiate the heat signature scan and layer it over the building map, watching the virtual lines scanning up and down the makeshift image until dozens and dozens of tiny red dots bloom to life all over the map; prisoners and guards alike.

God, there’s so many. You watch the small dots float about in the different rooms. So many… _Too_ many. You need to thin out the display parameters. You set the system to recalibrate at a setting slightly less warm than the human body ( _something smaller might give off less heat_ ) and set it running, flicking to another screen in the meantime.

The files you’ll want are deep within the mainframe and without any guess at where to start you launch the rootkit with the most secure encryption you can see. When the request for a top level clearance comes up you hold your breath and scan your tablet under the display reader. The screen goes blank.

Leaning forward, you tap the dark screen once. Nothing. You tap at the keyboard. Again, no response. With a confused hum you flick back to the first screen and scan the heat signatures. A blur of heat is flickering on and off like a heartbeat at the very back of the facility, lower than… you spin the layout map and squint. Lower than the bottom floor of the med bay. Nothing should be there. It’s outside the map. _Hang on…_ “Chanyeol, could there be a subterranean component to this building?”

Chanyeol leans back over, taking a long look at where you’re pointing. “Unless that thing is burrowing into the dirt there has to be some kind of hidden room, yes.”

You look up, counting the camera screens around you. They’re sequentially labelled from the first one out in the front reception to the basement level of the medical centre. The one for the room where Baekhyun and D.O. are being held reads one-forty-one. You find the list of cameras in a small menu to the bottom left of one of the monitors and scroll down it until you reach the bottom. There’s a total of one hundred and forty _two_ cameras. Chanyeol looks at you and presses the ink for the final camera. Again the request for a top level clearance code comes up and you try once more with your tablet.

The camera screen blacks out. “What the fuck…”

All of a sudden with a small interlocking sound, both the screens blink back to life as if one wasn’t ever going to work without the other. Lines of coding stream past the first screen but you barely read it, your eyes locked on the camera feed from the subterranean room.

Tanks. The camera slowly swings from left to right, revealing twelve huge, liquid-filled cylindrical tanks that sit in small rows in the darkened room, cords and cabling hooked up to them like something out of a nightmare, feeding into the fluorescent liquid that fills them. And floating in each one, suspended like hideous corpses are creatures exactly like the one you saw. “Jesus fuck there’s _more_ of them.”

Peeling your eyes away from the sight you make yourself focus on the original screen now that the code has settled. File folders hover before you, dozens and dozens all in chronological order.

“Five minutes,” Chen reminds you from the back of the room.

“Right, right.” Scanning the folders you don’t have the faintest clue where to start. Xiumin said something about a classified yield of… what was it? Parasitic warm-blooded alien research. _Classified yield… Classified…_

Your finger hovers over the final file in the selection and seeing it typed out you almost smack your head. Classified Yield of Parasitic Haemathermal Extraterrestrial Research. _You idiot._

C.Y.P.H.E.R.

You tap open the folder and the contents spill out, filling the screen. Old-Earth documents, military reports, files and photos of profiles for the soldiers… You know these names and faces. _Every schoolchild learns them._ The original twelve volunteers who were first experimentally grafted with the EXO DNA that would later be deemed safe to roll out to the highest elite fighting squads the planet could produce, sourced from all corners of the globe.

“Three minutes.”

You read faster. Pages scroll by; tests and their results, some of which is full of too much scientific jargon for you to grasp, but one thing stands out. The word ‘safeguard’ keeps being repeated, on every profile and every document that isn’t blacked out. You struggle to make it out. _Were these things made in case the first volunteers became something… less than human and turned on their creators?_ You spin the screen past faster.

Old photos taken of test results, of dirty, blood-smeared rooms and glowing eyes in sunken, oily faces that look half human, half alien… Of skin melting like black paint off bones and screaming figures… In a fit of fright you realise you recognise those decaying faces. No. _No._

Those creatures weren’t made to safeguard against the first twelve soldiers… they _are_ the soldiers. Or… what’s left of them after hundreds of years of living, prolonged decomposition. You want to vomit. Forcing yourself to read further you swallow the bile and grit your teeth.

The ‘safeguard’ was all the changes that were retroactively made to the second, widespread nanotechnology that went into soldiers worldwide after everything went so hideously wrong the first time. The original experiment _wasn’t_ safe. It was a complete failure and only rectified when it was too late to save what became of the first twelve. And now in their manic, hideous state they’ve been kept hidden, used to track their brethren, driven eternally by their unstable hunger for the energy given off by the abilities. Beside your screen the camera monitoring the tanks shows movement and Chanyeol grabs your shoulder. “Something’s going on.”

“Time’s up. We need to go.” Chen moves up behind Kai but you hold out a hand.

“Wait. What are they doing?”

Inside their tanks the floating figures have started to writhe, smacking their hideous bodies against the glass casings. You lean closer. “What the hell…” They hadn’t been awake to register anything a moment before.

As one, each opens a set of eyes and their pupils recede. Where you remember the one you once saw flashing eyes like white fire towards Baekhyun, this time each identical set glows a deep, rich gold. Like floating, hungry corpses each one rolls belly-up and stares at the ceiling. Your skin breaks out in terrified goosebumps. “Guys…”

A crash sounds, loud enough for you to hear it. You scan the rest of the monitors and Kai’s cry brings you all to the first one.

A figure in a long coat is standing right in the middle of the reception, arms waving, yelling at the terrified administration staff. A broken front door lies in his wake. Your voice falls out in a horrified whisper. “No…”

As you watch Lay grabs hold of a chair and flings it behind him as he advances, the wood cracking against a nearby partition wall, making the biggest racket possible. You hear his voice thread through the speaker on the monitor.

“Where is he!? Where’s the boy with the _light_?”

Kai screams at the screen as agents from the cell pen area flood the room, half a dozen of them, guns drawn.

“We need to get down there.” Chen looks frantic. “What the fuck is he _doing_? Why is he here?”

Chanyeol makes an angry sound, running both hands through his hair. “If we do, we’ve blown everything and we’ll never get to Baekhyun and D.O.”

Kai lashes out and knocks a nearby mug off the desk, shattering it to pieces on the floor. “We can’t just _stand_ here!”

You keep your eyes on the screens. Several of the guards are inching forward in a line, splitting off into a pairing V formation; two fanning out ahead of each other until they all have a clear line of sight. Lay appears to be disregarding the threat completely, still intent on trashing the office and screaming for answers. You don’t know what the hell he’s hoping to accomplish by dragging himself into the very heart of where he should never be. He _shouldn’t_ be here. Ever. If he’s shot… You can’t comprehend this. Your skin crawls in terror as on the other end of the line of cameras the submerged creatures continue to thrash, eyes golden and locked onto his power. _They know he’s here._

Why the fuck would he _do_ this?  

On the screen Lay rips a holo-projector from it's stand and flings it. The nearest admin girl behind her desk ducks it and runs. Lay ignores her, reaches the heavy object and heaves it up with a yell, flipping the desk over onto its side with a crash of electronics and paper.

“I said _where is he? Tell me!_ ”

Kai looks distraught, unable to take his eyes of the screen. If you’re all about to watch Lay be killed… Another Fed spills into the room behind the others.

_Holy hell, please no more…_

Walking up to the two agents nearest the back door the new Fed’s pace increases and before you can blink he flicks out both arms, identical silver blades sliding free from wrist sheaths. Without breaking stride he comes up behind them both and jams the knives up into the bases of their skulls, twisting and dropping both men dead on their feet without a sound. You fling yourself against the glass wall; you’re high enough up here to have a clear view down into the open rooms.

Stooping to yank the bloodied knives free again the agent turns and glances up. Your heart leaps into your throat and you might have passed him on the street and never known because his face is uncovered now -he’s working- but those _eyes_ …

Xiumin reaches the closest agent to the left and swings himself up the body with a hand around the man’s neck, snapping it on the round move as he kicks the weapon from the Fed next to him, releasing his hold and dropping down on top of the second man with the crunch of boots breaking bone. He slices the Fed’s throat and vaults backwards, the room erupting in gunfire as the other agents realise what’s happening and turn on him. Running flat out, Xiumin drops to his knees and skids between the pair of agents on the other side of the room, slicing open both the tendons on one leg of each of them. As they stagger he comes to a stop and spins back on one knee, pulling a handgun from his belt and shooting them both in the forehead, sniper-precise.

Chanyeol, Kai and Chen hit the glass beside you, their combined weights rocking the dome. Xiumin pushes himself to his feet, hits a dead run at the desk Lay had pushed over earlier and vaults over it with one hand, grabbing Lay with the other and forcing him to his knees under cover with him. Hauling his rifle from off his back, Xiumin takes aim over the desk edge without the scope and drops two more Feds who dive for him, close enough to receive arterial spray as he kills them. Several more flood the room, clambering over the bodies of the fallen and Xiumin ruthlessly picks them off until his clip empties.

In the time it takes him to discard the rifle and redraw his handgun a siren sounds, the high-pitched wail cutting through the air. _Fuck._ Kai spins for the transport pad, both hands going to the opposite hip and cross-drawing his silver Berettas from under his jacket. “Everything officially just went to shit. Let’s get down there and find out what the hell is going on.”

“Hold up, we still need cover.” You spin back to the computer desk and clear what you were looking at, bringing up the overreaching controls for the cells. “A little confusion might help.”

Drawing your finger along each line of cells you watch the locking mechanisms flash from red to green. Every cell below you unbolts. You smile thinly, straightening back up.

“Right.”

_Let’s find out what the fuck just went so wrong._

~*~


	13. Chapter 13

The distraction works better than expected; human prisoners pour from the cells on each floor in a gloriously vengeful wave and within minutes the guards have their hands full on every desperate, flooded front. You all make the most of the confusion when you materialise on the ground floor and head for the back entrance to the administration area at a run, shoving through sparring, interlocked bodies every other step.

Chanyeol swings and connects with one Fed who nearly takes his head off as you all approach the door, his half-and-half uniform confusing the guard as to just who he belongs to. The man rocks back against the wall with the punch, fumbling for his weapons belt. Kai doesn’t give him the chance; shooting him neatly through both hands. Chen steps over the screaming man as he crumples to the floor and ducks through the doorway. He’ll live.

Bodies lie everywhere, piled like gruesome stepping stones. Two more Feds have entered just before you and are beginning to wade through Xiumin’s carnage; you raise your Sig, sighting, exhaling and taking a clean shot through the side of the nearest man’s neck. The second guard spins back around but Kai is there, one silver Beretta to his temple. A shot rings out, the Fed drops and Kai presses his cheek to one raised shoulder, wiping off the cranial fluid.

Clearing the length of the room as fast as you can you follow the sound of shouting and find Xiumin who now has Lay backed up against the side wall behind a partition, one hand against his neck, half lifting the other man off the ground.

“-the _fuck_ do you think you’re doing? _Why?!_ Why the hell did you come here?” Xiumin looks like fury incarnate, shoving Lay back into the brickwork with a bone-jarring thud. “ _Answer me_.”

“Hey! Hey!” You all pile into him, managing with some effort to drag him off Lay and back half a step, two to each arm. Jesus, he’s all muscle.

Xiumin allows himself to be manhandled those few inches, never taking his eyes off Lay. “Why did you risk _everything_ to come out of hiding? You _idiot_.”

Lay pushes himself off the wall and up to Xiumin where you have him pinned, waving one hand wildly as if that helped explain everything. “Because you told me about the boy!”

Your grip slips on Xiumin’s shoulder as it bunches under your hands, coiling. He’s going to hit Lay and none of you are going to be able to stop him. Christ.

“What the hell does _Baekhyun_ have to do with this? Everything we agreed on you’ve just fucked up; you’ll _never_ be safe now!”

“Baekhyun is the key! _Listen_ to me! To _everything!_ ”

Chen digs his heels into the ground and you do the same, straining. Xiumin’s voice cracks and he snaps your hold, one black-gloved hand lashing out and embedding itself into the wall beside Lay’s head. Your heart stops and restarts.

“You know the deal. You _promised_ me.” Xiumin’s chest heaves, kohl eyes blazing. “You were supposed to get off this goddamn rock safely! _Alive_.”

Lay rounds back, shoving him away with both hands to his shoulders. “Which meant you were supposed to _die._ ”

Everyone freezes. The dust settles and all you can hear in this sudden distorted bubble of space time is Xiumin’s ragged breathing and the slow patter of blood from the knuckles on his hand as it connects with the floor. It’s Kai who steps forward.

“What are you talking about?”

Lay sucks in several long breaths and reaches for Xiumin’s damaged hand. With a growled word Xiumin snatches it away before he can connect and steps back. You look between them both. The sound of fighting slowly filters back in from outside; distorted like listening through water. “What’s… going on, guys?”

Lay ducks his head to the side, still trying to catch Xiumin’s eye. “With this kid we can _all_ get out of here. You included.”

Xiumin sets his jaw. “That was never the plan. And you don’t even know if Baekhyun can-”

“He _can_. The Federation knows what he’s capable of; it’s why they’ve been tracking him. Why they’ve classed him off the charts.”

Chanyeol finally grows tired of being ignored along with the rest of you and sticks an arm between the two men, igniting a white-hot flame in the centre of his palm. “Hey!”

 _That_ gets their attention. Lay turns away from Xiumin. “Hey, embers.”

Chanyeol tolerates the nickname since it seems to indicate that Lay is willing to talk to the rest of you. “Can one of you explain what the _hell_ is going on before-”

Xiumin raises his dominant arm behind himself and fires a single shot at the doorway. A figure you hadn’t even seen entering the room crumples to the ground, dead before he hits it. Chanyeol makes an incredulous sound.

“Before the rest of them pile in here like _that_. What are you guys talking about?”

Xiumin lowers his arm. “Lay and I have an agreement. He was _never_ to break it.”

You cross your arms, unable to help it. “Yes we heard that bit. But whatever it is you guys agreed on, he’s here now.”

Xiumin shoots a murderous look at Lay. “I can’t guarantee your safety now.”

“But I can yours. With Baekhyun’s help. We can all leave this place today. Leave this planet.”

Xiumin gives a short, sharp shake of his head. “This place is going into lockdown. No one is getting out.”

“ _We_ can. The boy is-”

“Baekhyun is _what?_ ” You finally explode, rounding on Lay. Enough with the cryptic bullshit. "What is he that’s so important to everyone? Please. Fill me in.”

Lay takes a long breath. “When was the last time you heard of a hybrid with the ability to control light?”

Your answer is instant, echoed by the rest of the group. “Never.”

“That’s because it’s a mutation as rare, if not rarer than mine.”

“That’s impossible.” Chen looks confused. “I know the stats on the healing genome – its millions to one.”

“Then you can class what Baekhyun has as a billion to one.”

The air leaves your lungs. “What do you mean?”

“What Baekhyun has is the _purest_ form of power. Everything is impacted by the presence of it. Even the EXO creatures. Nothing in nature travels faster than the speed of light; nothing can be measured or quantified or understood that is greater than what he has. It’s a universal invariant. And yet left alone he has nothing at all.”

“Wait.” That phrase reminds you of Baekhyun’s frustrated mention of being barely able to light up a lamp. “So what you’re saying is that he has what _looks_ like a useless, junk DNA ability when he tries to use it. But it’s… more than that?”

Lay nods. “So much more. What was the EXO-12 planet orbiting when we found it?”

“A pair of dying twin suns.”

“Exactly. The creatures when we discovered them had all but finally exhausted the largest form of light they could. It was why they followed us back to Earth. They didn’t want our planet.”

You connect the dots dangled in front of you. “They wanted the light set off by our gas giant.”

“Maybe their own mutations of light hadn’t shown up in their spawn for recent generations, I don’t know. But they had turned to leeching off their own suns until there was nothing left. And when they reached Earth their powers were phenomenally magnified by our sun – you’ve seen the old footage. We all have. Any hybrid alive today can’t pull off anything _close_ to that. They uprooted _mountains_. Turned cities to ash.”

“So you’re saying that Baekhyun can…” you search for the right words. “Turn your genetic abilities _up?”_

“Alone, his DNA can’t keep a flashlight on. Together with one of us…” Lay’s eyebrows raise. “We could be stronger and more powerful than anything anyone has ever seen. The Federation knows this. Cypher was re-activated for this.”

You rock back on your heels. Baekhyun. Defenceless, pacifist, kindness personified… is… You squeeze your eyes shut momentarily. “So his genetic material is the cornerstone of every other ability. The key, you called it.”

Lay looks to Xiumin. “He’s the reason we’ll all get out of there alive. The reason I came to the very last place I ever wanted to set foot into. He’s too important to let fall into Federation hands. More important than me.”

Xiumin’s eyes narrow but he says nothing. You turn to him, finally beyond ready for answers. Fuck it; if you’re all going to die you deserve them. “And what the hell is this deal of yours with Lay? Is it why you’ve been protecting him?”

Xiumin’s arms cross, bloodied hand tucked away. “I owe him a debt,” he grouses. “Lay leaving this planet with you lot and finally getting away from the Federation’s reach was supposed to pay it.”

You take a step closer. Xiumin’s face normally so unreadable is flashing emotion; far too many for you to count passing across his features. It makes you push further.

“Lay said you were supposed to die. What the fuck kind of agreement is that?”

A loud pair of Feds stumble backwards through the doorway behind you all, firing at things you can’t see, grey uniforms splattered with the remnants of the fighting outside. With an angry sound Xiumin spins away from you and stalks towards them.

Lay presses back against the wall and indicates for the rest of you to use the partition as cover. His eyes track Xiumin as the agent uses the noise as cover to reach the two men, unheard. “Xiumin has a degenerative condition.” Lay murmurs after a moment, voice hollow. Like disclosing a secret he’d sworn never to tell. “His blood cells and antibodies attack more than just infection. They systematically invade his muscle tissues and internal organs.”

“What’re you saying?” Your limbs all run cold, numb. “He has cancer?”

“Xiumin’s been cheating death for many years.” Lay watches as Xiumin kicks out the back of the knees of one agent, sending him sprawling onto his stomach. One blade flicks out, he bends over the prone form and wrenches the man’s head up by the hair, slicing cleanly through the exposed neck. “By all rights he shouldn’t be able to walk, let alone do what he does. It would take many months, maybe a year but eventually his own abnormal cells would metastasise and he’d die.”

You spin away from the sight of Xiumin tossing the second Fed who grabbed him from behind over his shoulder, placing one boot onto the man’s chest and withdrawing his handgun. “He’s alive because you’re periodically healing him.” The words come out thin and breathless. A shot rings out from behind you. “And when you left with us today…”

“He believes his debt to me would be paid. Even if it meant he’d succumb to his illness.” Lay looks impossibly sad. “He faithfully guaranteed my safety because I guaranteed his.”

“Fuck that.” Your words cause him to startle. “We’re not leaving him here.”

Lay’s eyebrows raise. “You really mean that?”

You push away from the partition as Xiumin picks his way back through the room towards you, injured hand holstering his pistol. “Without your ability keeping him healthy he won’t last the year. This isn’t negotiable.”

Xiumin reaches you all. “What isn’t?”

“Your life.”

Xiumin’s eyes shoot to Lay, furious. “You _told_ them?”

“Yes.” Lay stands his ground. “Because it doesn’t matter if they know now; we’re _all_ getting out of here. But we need to move. Get to where they’re keeping Baekhyun.”

Xiumin looks between the five of you, jaw working. For a horrible, heart-wrenching moment you think he’s about to stubbornly argue to be left behind. But Lay takes the singular instant of his inattention and reaches for Xiumin’s bleeding knuckles.

A brief flash of golden light passes underneath Lay’s thumb as he grabs Xiumin’s hand, wiping the blood and wound away. “Your debt isn’t paid until _I_ say it is. So do your best until the last moment agent, because either we all make it back to the ship or none of us do and you’re getting your final, stupid wish. There’s no backing out of it now.”

That finally seems to resonate. Xiumin gently slips his hand free of Lay’s fingers and nods, looking down at the healed skin through the ripped glove. When his eyes rise again you only find one emotion left there. Determination. Your chest floods with warmth, chasing away the icy numbness of the last few minutes.

Xiumin leans back and checks the doorway is still clear. “Let’s get to the med bay.”

~*~

The holding pens are a thinner mess of bodies as you emerge from the reception rooms. The wail of emergency siren has yet to let up however and that makes you nervous; sirens in your extensive experience always mean reinforcements. Your window of time is narrowing and you’re all heading deeper into the facility, not closer to the exit. Xiumin seems to register the same thing because he periodically keeps an eye on the holo-display at his wrist as you move.

Kai points out the set of sealed doors that lead to the medical section of the facility, nestled at the end of the cell block. “Down there.”

Xiumin crosses under the rusting catwalk that divides the floors of cells, keeping an eye on anyone passing above you, but thankfully no one seems to pay you any heed. Kai moves past him to the doorway and takes up position on one side, Chanyeol the other and you fish your tablet out in one hand, hurriedly scanning it against the reader.

Chen grabs the door as it unlatches with a heavy click, swinging it open wide so Xiumin can take point, ducking into the fluorescent-lit hallway first. Everyone else follows. The long, flickering bulbs overhead lend the whole place a creepy, sterile quality.

The sounds of your collective footfalls bounce about off the white-tiled walls, pattering after you as doors emerge from the gloom at the end; set after set. Each door has a small window, a number stamped below it in scratched red paint and what looks like a thin hatch for food. You indicate the furthest reaches. “Their camera feed said one-forty-one.”

Xiumin spares you a glance as Chanyeol peers into the first room you pass. 129. “You accessed the mainframe?”

“Oh yeah.” You tug Chanyeol away by the sleeve and keep everyone moving. “There’s not one of those things, there’s _twelve._ And they’re all here.”

Lay looks shocked for the first time since you found him. “Twelve bloodhounds?”

You hesitate. Now’s not story time. “Whatever you want to call them, they’re being kept in a subterranean room somewhere underneath this facility.”

Lay looks down reflexively, almost as if you’re standing on top of the rotting remains of the soldiers right now. You don’t mention that they’re probably all still floating like corpses in their tanks several hundred meters below looking right back up at him like hungry dogs, tracking his power from the moment he set foot into the prison. Some things are best left unsaid.

Chen moves along after Xiumin and Kai silently drops back to the rear of the group; you feel safest having the two best sharpshooters bookending everyone. Lay and Chanyeol trail along with you, filling the hallway. As you walk the lengthy corridor the harsh, uneven lighting starts to hurt your eyes. Xiumin counts along down into the depths and you can slowly feel the air cooling around you; you’re all well below ground now. The noises above slowly fade out, leaving only your collective breathing.

Xiumin stops in front of the final door of the creepy hallway, stepping back to take it in. 141. He angles up on his toes and peers through the high window, rocking back onto his heels when he spots what he’s looking for. “They’re in here.”

Your heart climbs into your throat. Pushing past Chen you scan your tablet against the reader panel beside the door. It clicks open inward.

You’re about to move in when Xiumin places a gloved hand against your shoulder and leans past you in the doorway. Raising his handgun he fires a single, fast shot up at the camera in the corner. The screen shatters and the machine droops, dead.

“ _Now_ you can go in.”

You smile your thanks at him and move past, feet carrying you to the two thin beds that sit close together against the far wall. Stark white in the flickering light a pair of clothed figures lie there, uncovered even by sheets. Your blood boils. _They’re not even bothering to keep them warm._

Stepping up in the narrow space between them you turn to Baekhyun first. Your hip bumps something and you follow his outstretched arm that hangs off the side of the gurney, pierced by the ugly IV needle at the crook. It reaches for the other limb hanging off the identical bed next to him, both shackled high at the forearm. D.O’s right hand.

_They were holding onto each other when they were put under. They were both scared._

You see red. Reaching for the tubing that sits taped across Baekhyun’s bicep, you carefully rip it off and tug the needle below it out of his vein. A trickle of blood and something vicious flows sluggishly from the insertion point. _What were they doping them with?_ “Lay, get this shit out of their systems. Now.”

Lay moves past you so you squeeze out of the narrow space and round to the second figure. This gives you your first real look at the earth hybrid. Chen stands at the man’s shoulder on the other side of the bed, one hand on his neck. “His pulse is steady.”

You look down. A thick fringe of what you assume would normally be fluffy dark brown hair sits plastered to D.O’s forehead, stuck there with days-old sweat. You place a hand on his shoulder just above the dampening shackle and repeat the same procedure you did with Baekhyun’s IV. Underneath the long lashes his eyes twitch for the first time. _He has nightmares,_ Baekhyun’s memory reminds you. You push some of the matted hair back from D.O’s forehead; he looks strangely vulnerable, reminding you of a sleeping child. _He likes to cook._ Your gaze travels outward, along his form and it causes a frown.

“Can we get these shackles off too?” You try to pry at them with your bare fingernails but it’s beyond pointless. “I’ve never had to remove them from anyone.”

Chanyeol reaches around you so you step back, looking to Lay who is still poking at one of the IV bags swinging on their carrier frame between the men. The liquid inside looks dark and particularly disgusting. “What the hell is that stuff?”

Lay releases the bag and steps over to one of the silver countertops, picking up a bottle of sterile wash and a cotton pad. “I don’t know, but I don’t want it anywhere near me if I have to open a vein. I don’t know how far these two are under.” He squirts the cotton pad and wipes down both Baekhyun’s IV arm and then D.O’s, cleaning up the last of the strange, seeping liquid. D.O’s head twists and he mumbles something.

A gentle rumble rocks the floor, bucking it.

You immediately lock eyes with the others, everyone startled and frozen in place.

“Uh, Lay? Work your magic a little quicker please. This kid has nightmares and I think I now know why they kept him heavily dosed.”

Lay moves towards D.O but Kai heads him off, stepping past Xiumin who is still keeping watch at the door. “Wait. Do Baekhyun first. If the other guy wakes up and decides he doesn’t like us we’ll all be buried alive. He’s familiar with Baekhyun at least. That might help calm him.”

Lay immediately concedes and switches tack, returning to Baekhyun. You circle around to the other side of the gurney and reach for him, placing one hand on his shoulder. _C’mon buddy…_

Lay places a hand on Baekhyun’s forehead, palm to skin. A slow blink and his eyes spark into that deep golden light that automatically calms your nerves. He takes a deep breath then another, eyes slipping closed. Another distant rumble causes the instruments on the countertops to wobble, tinkering together. You glance down at Baekhyun as the body under your hand twitches.

“I have him.” Lay’s voice is deep. A soft glow spills out from underneath his hand. “But this stuff is strangely strong. It’s unlike any drug I’ve ever seen.”

Baekhyun’s head lolls and you hover over him, hand going to his cheek as he blinks, sluggish. All your prepared words stick in a dry throat and you manage a faint, “Hey.”

Baekhyun’s eyes track aimlessly for a second before locking onto you. A tiny corner of his mouth cracks upwards and he mouths something from dry lips that you don’t quite catch. You bend your ear closer.

“I knew you’d do it.”

Ducking your head you let out a breath and ruffle his hair to cover the tears that you can feel threatening. “You’re safe now. We’ve got you.”

Baekhyun coughs, rolling his head back. Lay carefully peels his hand free, turning his backlit eyes down to the prone hybrid. “Hi, little spark.”

Baekhyun blinks up. “Woah,” he breathes.

Lay smiles, stumbling a little as the floor trembles. Xiumin calls back from his lookout. “You can have your mushy reunion later.” The rumble grows louder, shaking the walls and he glances warily up at the doorframe above his head. “Work on reviving the walking seismic disaster over there instead before we’re all buried alive.”

Chanyeol is still bent over D.O, trying to work the shackles off as Lay turns to the other bed. “We’re not going anywhere with them if we can’t get these things off.” He sounds frustrated. “There’s no lock.”

Kai looks at the ones binding Baekhyun and you stay by his side, one hand in his hair. “Can you burn them off?”

Chanyeol gives an angry shake of his head. “The alloy is resistant to all known abilities – it’s how they’re so effective.”

Kai reaches around your side and tests one of the shackles, rotating the thick steel back one way and then the other. “How are they with bullets?”

Your eyes go wide. Nearby, D.O flinches. The walls shake; a crack blossoms above Xiumin’s head and he narrows his eyes at the two figures through the paint that flakes down. “ _I’m_ willing to test the theory.”

“You’re _not_ shooting at them.” You eye the thick bands around both men’s arms and legs. “Each cuff is too close to primary veins.” One miss and they’ll bleed out. Even Lay might not be fast enough to stop that.

You have to grab for the nearby bench as the floor pitches. D.O jerks in his bonds and Lay quickly moves to place a hand on his head. The glass instruments occupying the bench space all slide to one side and you yank your hand back away as they drop off the edge, shattering. Kai moves to Xiumin’s side and you don’t have time to worry about what they’re saying, trying to keep yourself upright. You glance at Baekhyun, speaking quickly.

“We’re going to need you to talk D.O down when we wake him up. Explain to him he’s not in any danger.”

He nods, twisting sideways to look at the other figure. With a determined set to his mouth he stretches out as far as his cuff will allow and snags D.O’s fingers. Kai walks back to beside you and places a hand on your shoulder. You register the move a second too late for what it actually is.

“Stay still, everyone. Please. He only has a moment between aftershocks.”

An ominous sound clicks out; a clip reloading. Every cell in your body freezes. “What?”

Xiumin pushes off from the doorway and spins towards the two men on the bed. Taking aim with both hands to his weapon, he breathes out and fires eight rapid shots in succession. Kai grabs your arm as you jolt forward, sparks from the multiple impacts filling your vision. Blinded, you lash out but he pins your dominant arm, calling for you to settle down.

Rapid blinking clears the dancing lights. When you can see again the dampening cuffs lie broken against both Baekhyun and D.O’s arms and legs, the bullets having cracked through the side of each, missing the vulnerable flesh inside. Your legs turn to jelly and you shove Kai’s hand away.

“Jesus _Christ_ don’t just do something like that!”

Xiumin replaces his weapon. “I don’t miss,” he replies calmly, steadying himself as D.O pitches again and the earth reacts. “We were out of other options.”

You push away from Kai and wrench the smoking, broken-open metal pieces away from Baekhyun’s arms and legs one at a time as Lay returns to concentrating on D.O, dropping the pieces to the floor with heavy sounds. Freed, Baekhyun wobbles off the side of the bed and clutches at the other gurney, peering down at D.O as the nightmare causes him to cry out; sharp, sad sounds. Your own thoughts spin.

You know deep down that Kai made the call you couldn’t and it’s only residual panic over the two men that’s making you feel hot with anger and shame; you were blinded to what had to be done by concern and that made you hesitate. You know that’ll sit with you for a while, like an ugly itch. _Do better._

Chen, ever conscious of you from years of past interaction shoots across a glance and you clear your expression immediately, trying for blank and professional. You’re about ten percent convinced that you’ve fooled him but he drops it and doesn’t press. Good man.

D.O’s head twists from side to side. The crack above Xiumin spiderwebs along the ceiling with a sound like a residual gunshot. Kai and Chen move out away from the bed as the whole room trembles. Either Lay has this or he doesn’t.

Lay grunts, pressing firmly against D.O’s forehead where he has his hand rested. Chanyeol peels the last of the cuffs off and D.O’s whole back bows. Switching tack, Lay cups D.O’s temples in both hands and concentrates. A bright pulse of golden light flares from between his fingers, Lay drops his hands, shoves away and D.O drags in air like a suffocating man, eyes flying open.

Baekhyun launches himself into the vacated space, bracing himself over the other man and grabbing his hand. “Hey! Hey, it’s okay. D.O, listen to me.”

D.O swings his head wildly, locking eyes on Baekhyun. He momentarily strains against his weight until just who he’s looking at sinks in. Baekhyun fills his vision deliberately. The rest of you keep to the edges of the room.

With a long exhale the fight drains out of D.O. The walls stop vibrating. Your feet crunch on the now-unmoving broken glass underfoot and you make the metal note that the next thing you’re stealing is going to be a bottle of the most expensive whiskey the Federation has on tap. Your nerves can’t take all this.

D.O squints up at Baekhyun. “How..?”

Baekhyun leans back a fraction. “My friends are here. We’re getting you out. But we need you to stand up and walk with us. Can you do that?”

D.O swallows, nods. Lay’s eyes are back to normal when D.O pushes himself to a sitting position so it’s only as the other hybrid swings his legs off the bed and faces the doorway that his eyes land on Xiumin. He lowers his chin, eyes narrowing.

_Oh for fucks sa..._

The whole room pitches to the left. Immediately all of you lurch forwards and unsteadily place yourselves between the two men. Baekhyun grabs D.O’s arms, gripping tight. “No! He’s with us! Stop! He’s…” he shoots a panicked look to the rest of you as the cracked ceiling crumbles overhead. “He _is_ , right?”

“Yes!” Lay reaches out a placating hand to D.O. “He’s helping us. Please, calm down.”

D.O squares his shoulders and finally pulls his eyes off the agent. “He’s Federation.” A chunk of ceiling cracks loose and falls, narrowly missing Chen who dives for one side.

“He’s with us.” You raise both hands pleadingly. “He won’t hurt you. _Please._ Trust us. We’re here for both you and Baekhyun. To get you to safety. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t.”

Slowly, painfully slowly, the seismic convulsions peter out. D.O still looks on edge and you’re reminded that a basement room surrounded on all sides by earth probably wasn’t exactly the Federation’s cleverest move in terms of where to keep this hybrid. No wonder they had him out cold. Xiumin offers a thin smile in D.O’s direction.

“There we go. Now if you’re finished with your temper tantrum we need to move.”

D.O pushes off the bed. His feet hit the floor and everyone moves for the door. Xiumin is the first to duck out so it’s _his_ head the bullets zing past, cracking off the doorframe. He very rapidly retreats back into the room, slamming the door. “Not that way.” Overhead the lights all abruptly flicker off, plunging the med bay into darkness. 

A second later they reverse, a harsh, deep red light flooding the room. Each of you looks at the other, trying to assess what’s going on. Emergency lighting. Xiumin’s wrist display is flickering and he activates the readout. “Lockdown just came into full effect. Guess _someone_ ,” he shoots a look at D.O, “tipped them off that he was awake.”

D.O stares him down. You like this kid already. Xiumin returns to his readout as the tablet in your pocket vibrates. Footsteps thunder up the hallway outside, too many to count. You yank the tablet out and hurriedly answer the call. “A little short on time right now.”

“Yeah we gathered that.” Suho’s voice sounds terse. “The whole facility just activated their security lockdown protocols and a Federal battlecruiser is incoming. Are you anywhere near the exit?”

“Not exactly.” Gunfire ricochets off the heavy door outside. “Why?”

“Because this thing is on my radar already and it’s _huge._ You’re about to be flooded with too many soldiers and cyborgs than you can hope to fight off. You need to get out.”

Chanyeol slams his shoulder into the door, keeping it forcibly closed. Multiple heavy bodies hit it from the other side. You dart around, whisking aside several of the white curtains that sit alongside the far wall, trying to make sense of the small room. Of course there’s no other door. “Working on it.”

“Work faster. I’m powering down completely so as not to raise suspicion. We won’t move until you give the word but it’ll be a close call getting out cold.”

“We should be able to push it with a navigator. How long do we have until the cruiser arrives?”

“At its current speed, just under half an hour.” 

You flick off the tablet, shoving it into your pocket. Chen is at the door too now, keeping it braced. “Suho says Elbereth is dead in the water until we get back to her. We have a battlecruiser bearing down on us. Thirty minutes.”

Kai makes an incredulous noise through clenched teeth. “They’ll break through this door before the cruiser gets here. We’re not getting out this way.”

Xiumin methodically checks his clip, butting it home with the heel of his palm. “It’s our only way.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Chen looks as harried as you all feel. “There’s too many. You set foot outside that door they’ll blow you to pieces. Even you’d only manage to get maybe half of them down before they took you out.”

“We don’t have a choice.” Xiumin closes the readout on his wrist and rotates his hand until a silver blade slides free.

Chanyeol buffets from the force of the guards on the other side of the door, his words choppy and furious. “I’ll turn you to ash before I let you open this door.” He grits out. “Don’t try me.”

D.O squeezes past you and you let him. “Everyone calm down. Xiumin, put that knife away. We’re not doing anything suicidal.”

Kai looks grim. “It’s either fish in a barrel or a fighting chance. I know which way I’d rather go out.”

As the voices of the others rise; some in agreement, others against the idea of storming out you feel a hand brush yours. Baekhyun, hovering behind you is looking in the direction D.O has gone. He points.

D.O is standing stock still underneath a singular air vent that had been all to see behind the curtains earlier. As you watch he reaches up a hand and presses it against the tiled wall in front of him, eyes closing. You reach out a hand behind you and pat the nearest person, not taking your eyes off the hybrid. “Hey guys,”

D.O frowns, eyes still closed. “Everyone shut up.”

Near shouting point at each other, no one hears him. With an angry growl D.O hits the ground with one heel. A small spike of earth erupts from the centre of the room, jolting those not bracing the door violently apart and sending them reeling back against the walls.

“Shut _up._ There’s something here. Or rather… there isn’t.”

Baekhyun alone steps closer to him. “What is it?”

D.O pulls a face. “I can’t explain it right now but I can always _feel_ the earth around me. I know we’re underground right now. But here…” he drums his fingertips against where his palm rests against the wall. “There’s… nothing. It’s empty. A void that drops down a long way.”

You shoot a glance at Chanyeol and then back again. _The subterranean room._ “There’s supposed to be another hidden part to the facility. The Feds are housing some creatures in there that they used to find you D.O - and Baekhyun.”

D.O’s eyes open. He looks back over his shoulder and you’re witness to the first smile you’ve ever seen cross his face. It curves the corners of his lips down like something wicked and oh. Yes. He may look gentle but this guy is going to fit in _so_ well. “Did we want to see who's home?”

You step back, motioning for the others to do so as well. “How loudly can you knock?”

D.O’s eyes flash.

~*~


	14. Ficlet (Christmas gift for a friend.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a small Christmas present for my dear friend on tumblr, featuring her own beloved character (which she graciously gave me permission to use somewhere in this fic) and my Xiumin. Everyone else may take this as direct story canon or not, whichever you prefer; reading it is not necessary to understanding the overall storyline. The regular fic will resume next update.

She sees him as a mystery; he sees her as a puzzle. That probably gives Minah more pause than she’d ever admit, but it’s not Xiumin’s place in this galaxy to spend time wondering on that for too long. Besides, puzzles are meant to be returned to. Played with, taken apart and put together again. Surely that should be enough, right?

She’s busy decorating some kind of small, festive plant as he arrives; handfuls of twinkling three dimensional holographic objects that can be pre-programmed with colours are being hung from certain branches with very obvious deliberation as to their placement. Xiumin stands the doorway for a moment, one shoulder against the frame and watches. Federation holidays have moved distantly beyond him over the years, each one as meaningless as the next as far as he’s always been concerned. But this one seems to like them. Enjoys the festivities put on by the space station each time the celebration rolls around. Perhaps it gives her a sense of time passing. He’s not sure.

“If you glare at this tree any harder it’s going to wither up and die. Do you know how hard it was for me to source a living one this year?”

Xiumin never flinches. He’s paid not to. But sometimes Minah manages to take him by surprise, even if he’d never admit it. Instead he pushes off the doorframe and drops his crossed arms. “It’ll survive.”

“I’m surprised you came. You’ve never particularly liked Christmas.”

A step takes him into the room. “It’s not really celebrated in the ranks-”

“If you trek dirt in here so help me I’m tossing your precious rifle out an airlock while you’re sleeping.”  

Xiumin pauses, glancing down. Eyebrows raised, he withdraws his foot and sinks onto a bench recessed into the pale, curved wall of the laboratory room. Everything on a Federation space station is always on a curve; from the corridors to the bridge. It’s like the designers abhor sharp edges. It sets Xiumin’s teeth on edge. _Sharp is useful._ With a slow exhale he reaches down and unclips the fastenings on his combat boots. No laces; everything is quick-release in case of injury and it only takes him a moment to slip them off, lining them up against the wall by the door.

Minah places several more of the coloured balls on the plant’s spindly, outstretched limbs _. Thank god they’re holographic_ , Xiumin thinks. He doubts that droopy little thing could have stood up under the weight of real decorations. Plants grown under artificial light are always weaker. But it seems to make her happy, if the small smile he can see is any indication. It makes him stand.

“Who did you have to bribe to have them let you take it out of the hydroponic vault?”

Minah cups the remaining decorations in one palm, reaching for a tiny cup of nutrient solution. “The chief scientific officer.” She sounds pleased with herself. “As long as it’s still alive to return by the end of the month I won’t have to shout the entire department drinks the next time we have planet-side leave.”

Crossing the small space filled with desks and tables programmed to hover at perfect working height, Xiumin looks down when he reaches her side. “This shrub won’t last the week by the looks of it.”

“Shut up.” Bending slightly at the waist to ensure she can see past the lowest branches, Minah deposits the cup’s contents into the artificial soil. “I’m following all the instructions. It’ll live.”

Xiumin huffs, doubtful. Minah straightens up, places the empty cup back on the gently bobbing desk and smacks the back of her hand against his bicep. Xiumin looks down at the impact site and then back to her. “I’ve killed men for less.”

Minah pulls a face, the same hand grabbing at the thick, dark fatigues of his sleeve and tugging him along with her as she moves from one desk to another. “Yes, yes. Black ops sniper.” With an unclench of her fingers and a small shove she positions him against the side of the new bench. “Shirt off, you big badass. I don’t have all day.”

Xiumin reaches for the clasps on his cuffs first. “You could at least _pretend_ to be afraid of me.”

Minah is already fishing the tiny instruments from their respective drawers. “I don’t have time to be afraid of you.” Her voice is brusque. “I’m either too busy or you’re not here. That kind of makes it easy.”

Xiumin’s fingers twitch and he looks down at them. “I have things-”

“I know. A great many important things.” Minah sweeps her hair back over one shoulder as she turns around, depositing her handful of items on the desktop. She picks up the tourniquet first and when she takes in how little progress he’s made, that earns him an eye roll. “Did you forget how to undress yourself?”

Xiumin glares, unclasping the other sleeve and starting on the straps that fall from his shoulders and cross his vest. _If the uniform was flexible enough to roll up a single sleeve this wouldn’t be necessary._ Finally they come loose and he can haul the gear over his head, letting it drop carefully on a nearby chair.

Gloved now, Minah reaches for one bare arm and then the other, checking both for a better vein. She ends up choosing the same one she always does though, so Xiumin is still in the dark as to the move. _Must be doctor reflex._ He perches one hip against the table as she winds the tourniquet belt around his bicep above the crook and yanks it tight. “Flex, please.”

Xiumin obediently clenches and unclenches his fist, watching the vein pop and swell closer to the surface. When he looks up Minah is connecting the small catchment vial to the base of the needle. She reaches across and flicks the back of her fingers against the crook of his arm once or twice. “Nice.”

The insertion doesn’t register and Xiumin keeps his eyes on Minah’s face as she methodically  extracts the blood sample. “How’s… work?”

Her long hair obscures part of her face as she exhales a laugh. “You still suck at small talk.”

Xiumin bristles and the other gloved hand comes to rest against his wrist, squeezing reassuringly.

“I mean that in the nicest way possible.”

“Sure.”

The blood draw complete, Minah withdraws the needle and passes him a cotton ball to press onto the site. She sighs. “Work is fine, thank you. Life on this boring ass space station is also fine. We orbited a new planet three months ago. The views were great.”

“I know sarcasm better than I know small talk.”

The equipment is returned to a wash basin and Minah caps the vial, reaching for a label. “What do you expect me to say, Xiumin?” A pen is picked up and the label is marked with only a singular X and the date. “I see the same people every day and walk the same hallways. I don’t exactly get out much.”

Xiumin bends his arm at the elbow to stem the tiny trickle, ridiculous little cotton ball held in place. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

The pen clatters back onto the desk. “Of course you don’t. This isn’t your life. It’s mine. You’re just a…” there’s a pause, filled with something other than the current topic. “You’re just a visitor.”

“Minah…”

The scientist turns away, vial in one hand, all business. “The results will be ready in a couple of hours. You can take a break at the cafeteria hall or something while you wait. You know the way.”

She leaves the lab, soft shoes making no sound. Xiumin stares after her for a long while.

~*~

The cafeteria is bedecked in bright, glittery streamers. Xiumin takes one look at all the tinsel and walks right back out the way he came. It leaves him only the curving corridors to stalk as he waits. It’s not like he doesn’t know his way around these hallways by now. He makes for the outer ring and kills an hour or more pacing their length and looking out the gigantic windows that boarder the walkways. The stars outside are cold and unjudging in their company and that suits him just fine.

By the time the holo-display on his wrist beeps to indicate the allocated window of time has passed, his feet have already brought him back to the laboratory. It’s empty.

Just inside the doorway he makes sure to remove his boots again. He’s not quite sure why, as there’s no bristly, five foot something nuisance in a lab coat to tell him to do so, but he does it anyway.

The empty beakers and flasks in their metallic maze of holders are silent without the usual cacophony of unnamed, coloured liquids bubbling inside them like something out of one of the projected books from childhood. Xiumin passes them with little interest. He never knows what’s inside half of them unless Minah explains it anyway.

This lab only has a singular square window on the far wall and Xiumin gravitates towards it. The hovering desk beside it now contains the poor excuse for a festive shrub in its pot and Xiumin shakes his head. It’s not the same as placing it by a real window; plants don’t grow well by starlight. Maybe it’s human inclination to put green things beside glass. _Who knows?_ Xiumin reaches out and pokes at one of the miniature decorations; his gloved finger pushes right through it and the ornament changes colour.

A hand closes on Xiumin’s shoulder and he jerks, one hand going to the wrist, the other the opponent’s neck as he spins them both and slams the other figure up against the window. One arm flicks out and-

Minah looks at him through her fringe, angry and unable to breathe. Xiumin immediately releases his hold, dropping her the few inches enough that her feet touch the floor. Soft shoes. Right. “I’m… apologies.” He reaches for her neck. “You snuck up on me.”

Minah shrinks back against the window, blue eyes dark and cautious. “No, my mistake. I’m sorry. I thought you heard me come in. I know your line of work doesn’t take surprises lightly.” She coughs and Xiumin winces at the sound. “The bloodwork results are back.”

Xiumin angles his outstretched hand away from touching her, placing his palm instead on the glass beside her shoulder. It’s cold. He peers down at the now-crumpled piece of paper she still has clutched in one hand. It was a wonder she didn’t drop it when he flung her. A spike of something unfamiliar strikes through his gut. _Guilt._

Minah unfurls the printout and holds it up. Xiumin angles himself to one side so he can read it. Minah doesn’t retreat as he does so he counts that as one small good point.

“The diagnosis is definitive again. Still in remission.”

Xiumin nods, exhaling. With a look at her beforehand he reaches out and carefully plucks the paper from her fingers, scanning it before folding it carefully and placing it into one vest pocket. Minah squeezes out from between him and the window. “I don’t know why you keep checking so frequently. You said you first underwent treatment for your cancer years ago. You should be able to make yearly visits now, not every six months.”

Xiumin focusses on zipping the pocket closed. “I need to check a little more regularly than once a year. I’m still… receiving periodic treatment.”

Minah shoots him a confused look. “You know we have excellent facilities on all the major Federation planets. You should request to be posted to one of those and check yourself in. You’re still in peak physical condition; eight or nine months of solid treatment should really-”

“No.” Xiumin finally looks back up to her. “I have something to take care of back on my planet that requires me there. Long term travel off-world isn’t an option. I just need to keep checking that I’m fit for duty. That’s what matters.”

Minah’s mouth closes slowly. “Of course. The work.”

Xiumin lets out a sigh. “You know I can’t talk about it.”

“I have the Federation’s top level clearance for my research; you and I both know there shouldn’t be anything you feel you can’t tell me.”

Xiumin drops his hand away from the window. “It isn’t just about work.” A faint handprint lingers, fading out like a hidden ghost on the other side. “It’s also personal.”

Minah moves for the tiny nutrient cup, scooping it up. “Yeah, well heaven forbid you talk about that stuff either.” She turns to the plant and Xiumin extends a hand, snagging her white-coated wrist.

“Don’t. You’ll overfeed it.” He closes the distance between them and applies pressure until she lowers her hand back to the table. Their position brings his face near the back of her head and he attempts to look around the curtain of her hair, voice low. “It doesn’t need that much attention.”

Minah’s face angles back a fraction to look at him out of the corner of her eye and her words are exhaled, almost as if saying them hurts. “Some things do. I wish you’d remember that.”

Xiumin closes his eyes, resting his temple against hers. “You know my ship leaves in the morning.” The words claw their way up his throat to puff against her hair. “I can’t stay.”

Minah shifts and turns in the half-circle of his arms, a faint, sad smile on her lips. “I know.”

Xiumin threads his hand into the back of her hair and draws her to him. Rainwater. _She always tastes like rainwater._ He lets her kiss and bite at his lips, dipping at the knees to lift her up and against him. This time when her back hits the window it’s cupped in his hand.

~*~

The light from the communications tablet fills the small sleeping quarters, pushing back the darkness. Xiumin automatically rouses to the faint vibration that accompanies it, one hand reaching out from the covers and retrieving the device.

Swiping the screen on reveals a single message from a number that will never be placed into Xiumin’s contact list on his Federation-issued tablet, but which he nonetheless knows by heart. Scanning it he immediately sits up and gently pushes back the blanket, swinging his legs around and off the side. Reaching for his gear hanging off the back of a nearby chair he hauls the thick material over his head and settles it into place, fastening the straps that keep it secure. A hand touches the small of his back before the dark material covers it, still fumbling slightly under the edge of sleep.  

“Wh'tsup?”

“I have to go.” Xiumin spares her a glance before returning to his fastenings.  “Go back to sleep.”

Minah pushes herself up on one elbow, small face scrunched up in a yawn. “What time is it?” She tries to squint at the on-board regulator that keeps the station on a circadian rhythm, simulating night and day hours in the vast nothingness of deep space. Xiumin, having seen it already on his tablet answers for her.

“Two in the morning. You’ve still got a few more hours yet.” Both his gloves are within reach. Xiumin slips them on. The gauntlets follow over them, twisted and locked into place. Minah watches the process in silence.

Boots are next and Xiumin leans out to snag them. When he sits back the same cool hand from earlier brushes against the nape of his neck. Minah shuffles over, curving around his waist from behind in something slightly less possessive than a hug but still a clear message that she doesn’t want him to stand up just yet. Xiumin half twists back and places an arm over her to brace himself, looking down.

“This isn’t up for debate.”

“It never is.” Minah‘s smile in the darkness is melancholy. “But you usually leave with your scheduled transport. Is everything okay?”

Xiumin slides the closed tablet into his topmost vest pocket with his free hand, reaching out after and brushing away the strands of sleep-tangled hair stuck to the side of her cheek. Minah’s smile turns sad as he straightens up, standing.

“I have something I need to see to.”

“At two AM?”

Xiumin reaches out in the dimness, fingers closing over the stock of the rifle that sits against the wall, always within retrieval distance and tugs it to him, hooking it onto the brace over one shoulder. “Even at two AM.”

Minah sighs, falling back against the pillow. “Fair enough. Just… be safe okay?”

Xiumin nods, turning back and bending over the bed to press a small kiss to her forehead. “Merry Christmas, Minah.”

The tablet in his pocket trembles again and Xiumin withdraws it, glancing at the screen as he leaves the room. A second line now follows the first.

_Will need cover in about five or six hours. Rogue quarter._

_My friend Kai is injured._

Xiumin flicks the message away and initiates a call to his craft. Drawing a thin black mask from the confines of his vest he slides it down over his face.

 ~*~


	15. Chapter 15

([Gif by @Cinexo on tumblr](http://cinexo.tumblr.com/post/168256358238/poster-for-universal-invariant-by-dragon-dust).)

~*~

D.O takes a half step back from the wall, braces his feet and curls one hand into a fist. “Stay back.”

Everyone flattens themselves against the door, adding their combined weight to brace against the guards outside. You squeeze somewhere in between Chanyeol and Baekhyun as around you all the very foundations seem to come alive.

D.O steadies himself, drawing his arm back. The vibrations come from below his feet, building and rising like an awoken dragon clawing its way out. You briefly wonder how he can control this and not bring everything crashing down on both you and the Feds outside but as you do… D.O swings.

His fist connects with the tiles, breaking and sinking into the bedrock behind with the sound of a low-grade canon. A spiderweb of cracks shatter outward and the dragonwave of force you’ve been feeling pushes up behind it as the earth _itself_ follows his command and cracks the wall open around his knuckles. Chunks of tile and concrete foundation burst and crumble, dropping to pool at his feet. D.O steps over them and hauls away the remaining rubble, the bedrock surrounding it pulling away obediently to his touch until he can tear open a large enough hole.

A gust of cool, damp air rushes up to greet the room and you realise you’re looking down into the shaft of a large -now broken- ventilation pipe. Baekhyun darts forward, grabbing D.O’s fist as he backs away from the damage, turning it over and inspecting the skin there - but unlike Xiumin earlier, D.O’s knuckles are undamaged. _Interesting_.

D.O peers down into the shaft, the backdraft causing his hair to swirl about his head. “It’s big enough that we could slide down one at a time.” His dark eyes look back at the group. “What did you say they were keeping down there? Creatures?”

You push away from the door and cross the small space. “Twelve of them. They were once men a very long time ago. But they haven’t been for hundreds of years. They’re just… monsters now.” D.O looks disgusted. “They crave the power given off by genetic conditions such as yours. The Federation harnessed that and used one of them to track you and Baekhyun. If what we know is true they’re planning on doing the same to a great many more hybrids.”

“All well and good-” The butt of a rifle smashes through the high window just above Kai’s head, cutting him off. He shakes the glass out of his hair and grabs for it, shoving the weapon brutally back out. A yell confirms he’s jammed it into the wielder. “But how do we get down there without all these guys following?” He ducks as Chanyeol beside him ignites a palmful of fire and lobs it out through the space. “If they fire down the shaft while we’re still in it they don’t have to even aim; the ricochets from the bullets will still hit us.”

You quickly look back at the rest of them still using their weight to hold the door closed. “Chanyeol can you weld the door shut? Buy us some time?”

“I can but it won’t last for long.”

D.O moves away from the opening. “I can add to that.”

Chen is the one radiating concern so you flick him a look. He shrugs. “It’s a one way trip down there. Better hope they have an opening at the room’s other end.”

“We have less than half an hour to find out.” You turn to D.O as Chanyeol changes places with Chen, crouching down and starting to work from the base of the door upwards. Kai swings around, draws and fires through the window forcing the men outside to duck for cover. “Can you seal us in?”

The glow from the nearly blue flame in Chanyeol’s hand highlights D.O’s features. “Not completely. It might leave us with limited oxygen. But I can block the path enough that they’ll be stalled for a little longer.”

“Okay that’ll have to be enough. Who wants to go down first?”

Xiumin peels away from the door as Chanyeol works around to his half, melting the steel and fusing it to the frame. “Stupid question.”

Right. “Thank you.”

Lay carefully moves away from the door. “Can we each count a good ten seconds between each person going down? Gives the one at the bottom time to get clear before you land.”

“Definitely, but no more. We don’t have long left.” You watch Xiumin cross over to the broken ventilation shaft and peer down into the gloom. Checking the remainder on his clip, he chambers the first bullet and swings a leg over the sharp edge. “Hey Xiumin?”

He looks back over one shoulder.

“If anyone is unarmed down there, shoot to _wound_.”

That earns you an eye roll. The other leg is hauled over and Xiumin disappears. Chen looks at you. “Worth a try.”

“That isn’t technically supposed to be part of the facility. There might be people other than guards down there. I don’t want him shooting civilians.”

Chanyeol finishes with the door and stands up, backing away from it and the banging on the other side. “I think we’ve established by now that he does his own thing.”

You can hear Lay’s soft snort from somewhere behind you. “Just try not to get in the way.” He steps up next, sliding both legs into the square pipe. He counts a beat and then pushes off from the edge, vanishing down into the depths. Chen follows then Chanyeol and Baekhyun. You deliberately will away the mild squeeze of panic in your stomach as he disappears from sight. Kai backs up, Berettas still trained on the window and forcing the guards to keep their heads down. “You next. Then me.”

You’re about to voice your opposition to that but D.O steps forward. “I’ve got this. Go.”

“Not leaving you here alone.” You draw your Sig and aim it at the small space. “I’ll cover you. Kai, take the next drop. D.O and I’ll go last.”

Reluctantly, Kai ducks behind you and slides into the vent. You brace your legs and take aim beside D.O. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it now.”

D.O takes your locked elbow and backs you both up a few paces, forcing you to readjust your aim. The backs of your legs hit the sharp vent edge and the barrel of a rifle slides into sight through the corner of the broken window. You fire, forcing its retreat.

D.O raises both hands, balls them for momentum and raises one knee. Bringing his leg down with enough force that you feel the reverberation in your skull, his heel contacts the floor and the very bedrock splits, a chunk of solid earth sheering up and slamming itself into the door.  

Your eyebrows raise and you grab for him. “That’ll work.” Turning a fraction you angle him behind you. “Go.”

D.O swings himself inside and drops down. You lower your weapon, keeping one eye on the door as you hike a leg over the lip and can already see the bullets from outside taking advantage of the lack of returning fire and beginning to crack away at the earth. It won’t be long before they employ something larger, likely lasers. You drag your other leg inside and shove off into the darkness.

The claustrophobic slide lasts a good minute and that unnerves the hell out of you, not knowing where the drop at the other end is going to be. Finally you feel the metal disappear from under your back. You’re free-falling for a single moment and then your boots connect with something solid and you pitch into a blind roll, coming up on one knee to find a hand in your face. You grab the black-gloved fingers and haul yourself to your feet.

Xiumin releases you and you’re allowed your first glimpse of the corner of the room that you’ve landed in. The remnants of a broken ventilation grate lie by your feet and as your eyes adjust you take a mental count of all the figures around you. Everyone still present. _Thank god._ The irrational knot in your stomach releases a fraction.

The room looks like it was hewn from the bedrock itself; dark and rough like some kind of cave. Steel catwalks and scaffolding ring it, allowing for a makeshift second level that looks like it houses computers and some kind of video monitoring system. Screens are everywhere. And below it in the sunken centre of the room sits what you came down here for.

Twelve large tanks. Hooked up to cables, tubes and life support systems that appear to be monitoring the creatures inside, the vats of yellowish liquid each contains a single, hideous corpse. And every one is awake, flattened to the sides of their glass prisons like rotting dogs eyeing off a meal.

“Jesus.” D.O takes a step forward. “What’s with their eyes?”

Each creature’s misshapen sockets are flicking between different colours, pupils receded beyond all recognition. You peer a little closer at them and then draw back. “They’re reacting to the four of you. Look. White, brown, red, gold. They can’t focus on just one ability.”

Baekhyun makes an angry, disgusted noise. “How do we destroy them?”

Two of the nearest creatures snap their elongated teeth when he speaks, foaming the dirty water holding them, eyes finally settling on white. Baekhyun takes a step closer to you.

Xiumin carefully moves over to the tanks, reaching one of the monitoring systems and rolling his fingers through the holo-display on one side. “We might be able to find out what’s sustaining them and disable it.”

 _He’s right_ , you think. “Yeah there’s not a soul around down here; scientist _or_ soldier so the tanks have to be self-sustaining.”

Chanyeol, D.O, Baekhyun and Lay warily keep back from approaching the tanks directly so you, Chen and Kai follow Xiumin’s lead and fan out between the copious equipment surrounding the vats, looking for anything that might help. The creatures ignore your presence as you walk amongst them, hyper-focused on the hybrids in the corner.

One of the tanks jostles as you pass it, the snarling thing inside trying to press itself out and get to Baekhyun. You slam a hand on the glass in front of its face. The inhuman eyes snap to you for a moment and the creature growls before returning to staring hungrily at the others, unable to be functionally distracted. It makes your skin crawl.

Xiumin moves from one holo-display to another, trying to make sense of the readouts. “There’s nothing here. All I can see are what passes for their vitals.”

You follow the copious tubing hooked into the vat closest to you and walk around behind the tank itself. It spirals into a large container closed off by a lid. A faint droning is coming from within. Out of curiosity you haul open the heavy top of the box with both hands and peer inside. “Oh,”

Xiumin pulls his eyes away from the readout he’s scrolling through. “What is it?”

“How long do you think these things have been housed in these storage vats when they’re not being used?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“Because this looks older than anything I’ve seen in a while. Take a look. What is it?”

Xiumin crosses to your side and looks down into the box. His eyebrows disappear behind his fringe. “That’s a combustion engine. It runs on fuel and electricity.”

“What would it be used for?”

“Hundreds of years ago? Before we had space flight they would have powered things like terrestrial vehicles.”

You nod along, mostly following. “Right. So you said they’re powered by a type of fuel?”

Chen appears at your shoulder, reaching into the box and poking around for a bit. “Yeah but they’ve made some modifications over the years, look. See the newer parts? It’s been retro-fitted to utilise hydrogen instead of fossil fuels. Far more efficient. Less need to top it up as often, especially if these things are kept locked away until needed.”

You slant a look at his face beside yours. “How the hell do you know that? I’ve never seen anyone use something this old.”

Chen pulls his arm back out. “I once fenced parts of a designer old-Earth vehicle. There’s a market for ancient mechanical parts. Collectors love them.”

“And this… device is powering their tanks?”

Chen cranes his head around, taking in identical boxes near all the vats. “They’re part of a larger system….” He points across at a colossal turbine sitting against one wall, all the tubes from the boxes trailing across the floor and feeding into it. “My guess is that thing’s the heart.”

Kai rounds another tank and joins you. “Can’t we just shoot these floating freaks and be done with it?”

You pull a face. “If we don’t down them and they get loose they’ll go right for the others. Look at how badly they want to get to them already. We need something that keeps them contained.”

“That doesn’t give us a lot of optio-”

The timer on Xiumin’s wrist beeps faintly. You swing around, a bubble of anxiety climbing up your throat. Xiumin grimly looks down and then back up again. “Time’s up.”

“Fuck.” You glance frantically back at the turbine. “Can we… I don’t know how these things work. Unplug it or something?”

Chen shakes his head. “It’ll have a backup. These creatures have been maintained this way for decades. There’ll be failsafes or something similar in place. They’re too valuable for there not to be.”

Xiumin steps closer to the nearest tank, inspecting the thickness of the glass. Inside the creature has started to grow frustrated at being so close to the hybrids and has started to writhe again, thumping its decomposing body against the walls of the container. “We might just have to take that risk and shoot them. I can try-”

Beside him the nearest holo-screen flickers and winks out. A heartbeat later it reassembles, twisting into an image of a tall, scowling figure. Around you the multiple screens on both floors echo the same image. A deeply authoritative voice pours forth from them all simultaneously, echoing off the walls of the chamber like the loudest death knell you’ve ever heard.

_“Civilians. Illegals. This is General Velen of the Federation battlecruiser Dominance.”_

Your breath stops. Kai swears on a sting of words so fast you barely catch them and slides behind one of the tanks out of sight of the two-way screens. He makes a motion in front of his face at Xiumin which -praise everything- is miraculously understood by the Fed. Xiumin quickly reaches into a vest pocket without asking questions and withdraws his black mask, twisting slightly to lob it behind his back in Kai’s direction.

Kai snatches the material in mid-air and tugs it down over his head, obscuring everything below his eyes. Meanwhile the transmission continues to speak, glowering out at each person in the room.

 _“We are presently above your position with all weaponry at our disposal locked onto your heat signatures. The eight of you are henceforth charged with breaching a peacetime Federal facility and numerous counts of premeditated murder in the first degree.”_ Velen’s digital eyes snap to Xiumin last and his lip curls. _“Under section eight of the Federation High Council protocol the treasonous agent amongst you will also be held accountable for his part in this heinous act. Surrender your weapons and exit the building.”_ Velen lowers his broad face closer to the screen on his end, the heavy medallions on his grey uniform dangling. “ _Failure to comply will result in your complete obliteration. You have five minutes.”_

The transmission turns to static and Kai swings instantly around, hissing. “ _Eight_. They said the eight of us. That means they haven’t spotted Suho and Sehun yet.”

Xiumin is straining on his toes, looking up and around along the second floor catwalk for something. He spots it a moment later and points. “The only door is up there.”

You swing your head around and sight it. “You’re not thinking of actually complying with him are you?”

Xiumin flashes you the most disgusted look you’ve ever been privy to. Relief trembles through your limbs and you almost want to hug him. He takes your arm and motions for everyone to group up over where Lay and the other hybrids are, speaking when you’re all together.

“A cruiser of that size will be in high orbit right now, _not_ directly above us. It won’t be instantaneous for any missile to reach down here. We have a few more minutes than he believes we know about so think _fast_.”

Chanyeol speaks quickly as you pull up. “The facility must have been evacuated in the last half hour. For any weapon to penetrate down this far he’s going to have be willing to blow the whole place.”

Lay angles everyone in towards himself, meeting all your eyes and speaking low. “Not if we do it first.”

Chen’s eyes widen, horrified. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Lay points around the group to the turbine. “How big an explosion would that thing make?”

Chen and Xiumin spin around then back again. Both of them offer the same instant reply. “A big one.”

“Then that’s what we do.”

“Wait,” D.O squints between the rest of you, voice hollow. “Are you seriously discussing burying ourselves before the Feds can do it?”

“What?” Lay shakes his head. “No. Listen. Velen isn’t going to launch. He’s bluffing.” At everyone’s instantly incredulous look he rolls his eyes. “C’mon. What are we standing next to?”

D.O shrugs. “These floating nightmares.”

You finally click. _Oh._ Yes. One of the oldest secrets the Federation has. “Lay might be right. They’re not going to risk detonating a missile in here. He _has_ to be betting everything on us turning ourselves in. He holds all the cards.”

Baekhyun rubs his hands together; one of his nervous tells. “Bluffing or not, that still doesn’t give us a way out. They’re locked into our heat signatures. _That_ I believe. We’re traceable and the moment we leave this building we’re dead.”

Lay nods quickly. “Yes. Unless they already _think_ we’re dead. And that there’s conceivably not enough left of us to identify.”

Xiumin is keeping one eye on his wrist timer. “And how do you propose we do that?” He’s starting to sound angry. “Not to be a realist, but we blow that gigantic heart in the corner and we _are_ dead, whether they come for us or not.”

“No no, hear me out. We need to obscure their sensors with something large enough. Look.” Lay raises both hands pleadingly and then points one directly at Chanyeol. “We have the power to destroy everything in this room.” Switching, he then indicates D.O. “We have the force to collapse this entire structure so they can never recover anything.” One last movement and he twists back to indicate himself. “And we have a way out.”

Everyone is momentarily silent, trying to calm themselves down and puzzle that out. Kai finally speaks up, agitatedly shaking his head. “That’s not enough. We have fireballs and a helluva seismic shock and _possibly_ a way to cheat death. That’s all. We could never hope to blow a whole facility apart with just that.”

“ _Before_ we couldn’t.” Lay’s hand swings one last time. “Now we _can_.”

Baekhyun blinks down the length of Lay’s finger. “What?”

“The key is you, little glowstick. There’s so much you can do. More than you’ve ever thought possible. I’ll explain it later but you _have_ to trust me.” Lay looks at the rest of you and you can _see_ the sheer weight of this burning behind his eyes. “Please,” he begs. “You all do.”

Glaring at him you swiftly fish your tablet out of your back pocket and start to dial. “You’d better pray with _everything_ you fucking have that you’re right about this.”

~*~

By the time the screens flick back on you’re all in position on the high catwalk nearest the door. Lay quickly steps back behind the others and pockets the thin, pearl-handled knife you’d last seen him use what feels like a lifetime ago the moment you’re no longer alone.

Velen’s imposing figure winks back to life on the monitor and he looks smugly pleased at the development.

“ _I knew you would see reason. Now, under section seventeen of the United Federation High Council law enforcement decree you are forthwith placed under arrest. You will be transported to Alcatraz immediately while you await your sentencin-_ ” Velen’s image pauses, peering at you as you step forward.

“You know what?” You place your hands on the railing and look down at the mass of writhing corpses in their tanks below you. “I don’t think so.”

Velen blinks. _“What are you talking about?”_

You look back up at the screen. At that haughty, broad face. “I’m tired. Right now we all are. Tired of secrets, of lies, of men like yourself thinking you’re better than the next person because of something so small you have to use a centrifuge to see it. And we’re not going to jail for any of it.” You lean forward enough that you can rest your elbows on the metal. “I’m _talking_ about this disgusting, inhumane legacy that you have rotting away down here. This secret that you and your ilk have been sitting on for centuries.”

Velen looks startled and you know in that exact instant that Lay was right. Your surrender was counted upon. They’re not going to nuke you from orbit. So you’re going to do it for them.

You stretch back up, holding out one hand behind you and D.O steps forward. “I’m talking about everything you’ve done to people I care about so far…” The ground starts to tremble, foundations rattling. The screen in front of you swings on its bracketing.

You extend your other hand and Chanyeol moves to the far side of D.O. “Everything you plan to do to so many more like them in the future…” A handful of fire ignites over Chanyeol’s palm, swirling and crackling.

“Your entire ancient experiment. It all stops here with us today.” You stretch your lips over your teeth in a thin, cold smile.  “Because I know what these things are; what they were.” Velen’s face pales and he starts to shout. You ignore him. “I know _who_ they were.”

Baekhyun steps forward between Chanyeol and D.O, both hands out, palm up. A thin rivulet of blood from a pair of shallow cuts traces each one. D.O and Chanyeol each turn their free hands up, displaying identical knife wounds. Velen screams at someone off-screen.

The three hybrids link hands, DNA mixing with Baekhyun’s own affinity. Chanyeol’s fireball erupts, billowing into a dragon that unfurls towards the packed-earth ceiling. Wings of flame meters long snap out above all your heads. Above you all D.O tears a massive crack along the ceiling, crumbling foundations and bedrock into chunks that fall, collapsing the centre of the room. Wiring breaks, metal sheers apart, the monitors below explode in a shower of sparks. The seismic quake claws around the facility, tearing upwards to the floors above.  

You keep your eyes on the last working screen nearest to you. Velen looks like he’s about to pop a vein in his thick neck. Your smile widens, baring teeth. “So this is for them. For the twelve who should have been given death so long ago.”

Chanyeol flings his arm out. The wings coalesce, spiralling out into the centre of the room, igniting everything in its path. Just before the tanks burst and the last monitor dies you raise a hand and fold every finger down except the middle one. “And for my father, who shouldn’t have.”

The turbine explodes and the entire structure above begins to collapse through the roof. Boulders the size of ships crumble down like sand. Fire roars upwards in a decimating wall, triggering chain reactions and melting all it touches. The last of Velen’s furious face disappears in a shatter of broken glass. Unobserved now, you turn and push those nearest to you through the door, everyone running flat out. The heat follows, threatening to suck the very oxygen from the corridor. Chanyeol is the last out, holding the flame back from billowing through the corridor and burning you all alive.

The hallway slopes upwards, winding in enough of a curve that you’re unsure where you’ll end up by the time it finishes. All around you the earthquake bucks the bedrock, heaving it about until you’re all nearly stumbling, falling over. But D.O keeps both his hand in Baekhyun’s and the corridor ahead from collapsing as everything behind you starts to sink, caving in.

The boiling crater eats the ground, chasing the group of you as your lungs strain and Xiumin at the far front throws his shoulder against the door that finally appears in the darkness, slamming it open. Everyone piles out.

You get a glimpse of a huge room that looks like a hanger-sized laboratory before an entire squadron of guards swing around, dozens and dozens of weapons drawn. Your very bones freeze. _They didn’t evacuate._ Of course. The bluff was supposed to be foolproof.

Xiumin draws up but Lay grabs him, his other hand snatching Baekhyun’s as the whole collection of guards open fire as one. You notice blood on Lay’s own palm as he draws on Baekhyun’s genetic affinity and yells, “Everyone _down!_ ”

He drops to one knee as the whole group instantly obeys the command, free hand slamming onto the floor. His eyes flash. A golden shield flares into existence, enveloping all of the crew as the quake D.O had been holding back roars under the doorway and through the room.

Bullets sheer off the bubble, deflected and nullified. Lay makes a pained sound through gritted teeth and grips Baekhyun’s hand tighter. You close your eyes and hang onto everyone around you as the entire world crumbles apart. D.O yells, fingers digging gouges into the stone. The roof snaps inwards over your heads, cracked in half, all support beams shattering. The last thing you see is the floor itself being eaten away, collapsing in a perfect ring around the shield. Everything disappears. The screams as the guards fall take a very, very long time to stop.

~*~

The wind causes you to open your eyes, grit flaring up as Elbereth swings around in an arc through the now-open sky, coming in low and very, very fast over the smoking crater that is now all that remains of the facility. Suho draws her up as he approaches your position and kicks her into a full 180 degree spin. Thrusters burn, whining under the strain but Elbereth obeys, coming to a hovering, floating halt before your tiny apple core of an island left untouched amid the massive field of destruction.

The back ramp lowers in the updraft and you spot Sehun, rainbow hair billowing as he descends the metal to the very end, hooked up to one of the safety cords usually employed for spacewalking. He holds out a hand and beckons. “Jump!”

The shield around you lowers and Baekhyun catches hold of Lay just as his arms give out and he nearly collapses, exhausted. With the help of Chanyeol they manhandle him up, toss him across the gap and jump over themselves. Kai follows and Chen then takes the leap, both of them catching Sehun’s anchoring hands and reaching their spares back for you.

Blinking against the burning ash and wind you help D.O to his feet, stepping past the inches-deep handprints he’s clawed into the cement. He’s unsteady but he takes the gap at a weary jump, snatching the others’ outstretched hands as he lands on the ramp. They all then use Sehun’s cord to help guide themselves up and into the hold.

You turn and reach out a hand for Xiumin only to find him standing back several paces, eyes unreadable. You wiggle your fingers impatiently. “C’mon!”

Saying nothing Xiumin looks away, down at the windblown chasm of a drop that surrounds you on all sides and you’re hit with Lay’s haunting comment on Xiumin not thinking beyond this point. Something horrible carves out a chunk of your stomach. Darting forward you sink your hand into the heavy vestment that covers his chest and grip with everything you have. Hauling him away from the edge you tug him along with you towards where Sehun hovers at the end of Elbereth’s swaying ramp, arm extended. Before letting go you wrap your other hand around the back of Xiumin’s head, dropping your forehead against his for a single moment so as not to be overheard. “Stay.” The wind snatches at your words. “I know you didn’t plan on making it quite this far but please stay with us.” You heave a breath, giving the sentence that he’d passed onto you the day before back to him. “You’re no longer alone.”

A heartbeat passes, slower and heavier than any you’ve known in a while. But then Xiumin nods silently, taking a deep inhale and pushing away, backing up enough to take the gap at a run. His boots hit the ramp, Sehun snags his hand and Xiumin disappears up the cord into the hold. Sehun swings back, hand out.

Casting a glance around, you take one last look at the windblown devastation. Somewhere buried below that burning chasm of broken steel and earth lies the final resting place of things that should never have been, if not for the desperation and greed of men in vast seats of power. You turn your back on it all and make the leap. Sehun’s hand catches yours and holds on tight.

~*~


	16. Chapter 16

Ducking into the hold you quickly cross the length of it as Sehun disconnects from the safety cord and hits the button to recall Elbereth's ramp, finally sealing off the wind. Everything stills.

Kai yanks the black mask down around his neck and crouches with Xiumin next to Lay and D.O who are both still struggling to stay upright. “Chanyeol, Chen,” you gesture for them as you pass. “Take those two straight to the med bay, get them settled and strap yourselves in tight. We’re about to make a push for atmo and we still need to get past that battlecruiser. Things might get rough.” Reaching the ladder to the catwalk you haul yourself up. “The rest of you with me.”

Elbereth’s strip lighting matches your pace as you jog up the spine, illuminating the metal corridor. Swinging under the hatch doorway to the bridge you make a beeline for Suho, dropping a hand against the back of his neck. “Thank you, everyone’s on board. That was one heck of a manoeuvre. Nicely done.”

“What’s that cliché line?” Suho draws the handle for the primary engines back, opening the throttle and tips his head back to briefly look at you. “You haven’t seen anything yet?”

You huff a laugh, dropping your hand. “I really hope so.” Moving for the captain’s chair you weave past the others who have entered and are settling themselves. Baekhyun hovers by your seat, looking uncertain. You squeeze his arm as you turn and sit down. “Go on.”

The lights on the navigator’s station to the left of Suho flicker on and Elbereth silently beckons him over. You feel the tell-tale warmth in the back of your mind as she takes her place inside your skull, interfacing just as your back connects with the high rest of the chair. “Thanks for watching over them El,” you whisper, locking yourself in. “Just need you to get through this next part with us.”

A soft, steady sensation pulses behind your eyelids ** _._**

You see Baekhyun spin the chair at his station and run a gentle hand over the controls there, seating himself with a small exhale. He squares his shoulders, rolls his thumb over the DNA fingerprint register next to his seat and in a flash a holo-display far larger than either yours or Suho’s winks to life like an opening eye in front of him. You hear a soft, impressed sound from the pilot.

Baekhyun’s hands fly across the screen. He flicks open the interactive star map that appears next, positions it just up above his head and adjusts the displays until he has them all surrounding him to his liking, familiarity taking over his nerves at a new craft. He completes his setup after a few moments and glances back at you. A nearly invisible interface appears, wrapping like a blue-tinted band around his eyes and you know now that he’s finally home. 

Kai, Xiumin and Sehun who have been busy locking themselves into the spare seats around the back of the bridge have fallen silent and you realise then that most of them might have never seen a navigator in person before. In Kai and Suho’s case at least, not one without a gun to his head. You smile.

“Ready?”

Elbereth curls around your neurons. The holo-display above your wrist flashes up, granting you vision from the crest.

Suho reaches above his head and flicks the switches for the primary ignition, rotating the engines into place for space flight. He stretches across the gap between the stations and very gently smacks Baekhyun’s shoulder in greeting. “Heard a lot about you little glowstick, nice to finally be able to meet. Right now though I’m going to need a clear path up. Can you find me one?”

Baekhyun nods, zooming his huge holo-display in with a flick of his fingers and spinning it to assess all angles. Data streams past the screen in a trail too fast for you to follow but he seems to read it just fine. “We need to keep above that fire in the crater to hide our heat signatures until the very last moment. No high-atmo transport traffic so you’re clear even with the clouds.”

“Fantastic. Then let’s do this.” Suho hauls the controls back towards himself, angling Elbereth’s nose upward as you circle above the crater, steadily gaining height. “Everyone hold tight, it’s a vertical pull up and ships like this are usually better suited to a gradual incline.”

“Elbereth can handle it.” You feel an answering pulse behind your eyelids. She’ll try her best.

Baekhyun reaches into his display and toggles the booster sequence, flicking it across slightly so it floats between Suho and himself. He glances back at the others and places his fingers halfway up the length of a single illuminated dial, waiting.

Around you the thrusters build, roaring until you feel Suho connect the flight controls from their primary into their secondary position. His hand also reaches for the dial. He starts from the base and draws his finger up the sequence first, dragging the illuminated line as high as it’ll reach under his DNA. When his hand falls away Baekhyun’s fingerprint takes over, pushing the thrusters to their max capacity. Space flight.

Your knuckles grip the armrests as Suho spins the ship in an impossibly sharp arc, spiralling her upwards. Elbereth obeys faithfully, pushing herself in the tight twist, angling higher and higher until you’re completely vertical in the air, directly under the far orbiting cruiser. Clouds upon clouds whisk past like spiderwebs and the sudden sunrise nearly blinds you all when Elbereth abruptly clears them. This is the part that Kai warned you all about yesterday; Suho is essentially flying blind at this early hour with the sun in his eyes.

Baekhyun keeps him on track though, the interface wrapped around his eyes allowing him far broader vision unimpeded by the phenomena outside. “Keep her tight. We’ll clear atmo in one minute and thirty seconds.”

The strain on Elbereth’s outer plating is starting to show; the red light of heat sheering off her as the friction kicks in, beginning to burn around the edges of the windows.

“Maximum Q achieved.” Baekhyun states, noting the point where the atmospheric drag has reached its peak. Suho nods, flicking all the booster switches above his head open to full throttle. Everything around you starts to tremble.

“Fuel burn at maximum.”

Baekhyun listens to that, adjusting the map above his head slightly. “You’re going to want to hold this course until the very last second. The moment the drag peels off and we clear the atmosphere you’re going to need to throw the biggest turn you’re capable of because we’ll hit full speed.”

Hearing him sink firmly back into the role that has always been in his blood just as much as yours is in your own veins brings a kind of warmth you haven’t felt in days. The far curve of the planet starts to appear and you can see through your screen the first twinkle of distant stars along its edge as you break through the blue illusion of the sky and out into space. Into-

 _Holy shit._ Those aren’t stars.

The battlecruiser fills the screen, fills the windows, fills _everything._ You grab your armrest with one hand and widen the view of your holo-screen with the other. Even at max diameter all you can see is the underside of the immense ship. “Guys..!”

“Hold course!” Baekhyun is focussed on the readout in front of him. “Just a little closer. Too soon and we’ll be on their radar before we turn.”

You watch the thousands of tiny lights on the cruiser’s black sides close in. Any closer and you won’t be _able_ to turn. You’re going to hit. But above all else a captain believes in their navigator so you shut the hell up.

Baekhyun’s screen spins and he holds out a hand to Suho. “On my count.”

You clench your jaw, looking back at the others clutching their own chairs; everyone trusting everything on Baekhyun’s timing and Suho’s skills. You flick your eyes back to the window ahead and all you can see are the battlements that adorn the black cruiser like spikes becoming ever more visible. You can make out canons, hanger bays and laser ports. A thousand lights and just as you’re about to veto this entire crazy scheme Baekhyun drops his hand.

“Now!”

Suho kicks the thrusters sideways, dropping the primary ignition force and hauling on the controls. Elbereth screams, sheering sideways towards the cruiser’s underside for a heart-stopping second before Suho reengages the boosters and slams them forward.

Elbereth reignites, turns on a dime and shoots horizontal, missing colliding with the cruiser by millimetres, zooming along underneath its incredible length like a fly. You let out the breath you’d been holding and sink back into your seat as Suho weaves above the black turrets, aiming for the rear of the ship.

On your display it shows that Elbereth has finally passed out of the illusion created by the heat signature below. It’s Xiumin who speaks up. “You’re going to have about a ten second lead so make the most of it.”

“Copy that.” You raise your hand and hover it over your display pre-emptively. “El? Weapons systems online. Suho, shields up.”

You’re approaching the back of the huge ship when several ports around you draw back, squares of light spilling out into the starscape. Hanger bays.

As you fly past they disgorge their payloads – squadrons of fighters screaming out into space. You count more than a dozen. That’s… so not good.

**_Weapons systems initiated._ **

The tell-tale energy displacement in the air corroborates that statement. You spin your wrist, toggling the wing ion cannons into a touchable trigger interface. “Kai?”

He sits forward in his seat. “Got it.”

You fling the interface to the side, over towards him. He had a damn good eye in the warehouse the other day and you’ve always been better with handguns than cannons. “Try and take as many down as you can. We want to hit the hyper-jump alone.”

Kai snatches the shimmering blue interface and brings it in to hover in front of him. Outside the jet black fighters coalesce, arcing around in a swarm of curved wings to try and locate the foreign heat signature that’s just appeared below the battlecruiser. The first wave’s radars locate Elbereth and they dive in.

Suho twists the controls, dropping Elbereth closer to the underside of the cruiser, swinging her through the turrets that spin and try to lock on as you zip past. Kai fires, twin ion cannons striking both the lead ships as they drop low in front, trying to head you off. They tumble violently, explode and Suho pushes Elbereth through the debris and flame, swerving just in time so as not to collide with a turret on the other side.

Behind you more of the squadron drops down and it’s Baekhyun who spots them, warning, “Suho, on your six.”

The black fighters scream in close. Newer, deadlier and built for war they’re so much faster than the outdated Maelstrom class; you know all these dreadful facts. Laser fire sheers past the windows and Kai calls out, sniping off the next fighter that dives in from the front.

“We can’t outpace them!” He swings his interface around, sniping at a fighter that veers in suddenly from the side. “Suho can you reverse hook? Like that time in the Vandaha Cluster.”

That memory must mean something because Suho immediately turns to Baekhyun. “Proximity?”

Baekhyun blinks into his visor. “Half a click and closing fast.”

You spin your vision from the crest, flicking it so you have eyes behind you. Just as Baekhyun said, several of the fighters are growing larger with frightening speed, catching up beyond what you can hope to outrun. _Jesus…_ Elbereth pulses a warning behind your eyes and you flick open the comms to the med bay. “Is everyone secured back there?”

Chanyeol’s voice cuts through, static-filled. “ _Everyone is strapped in. Are those fighters out there?_ ”

“Yeah. Two squadrons’ worth.” Chunks of flaming metal careen past the windows as Elbereth dodges the turret fire nearby and it slices through a fighter next to you. “Hold tight. Suho’s going to try something.”

“ _If we die I’m haunting his water-flinging ass until the ends of time_.”

Suho jams Elbereth sideways through the space between two turrets, scratching the barest tips of her wings. “What’d he say?”

You flick the patchy comms off. “He says good luck.”

The fighters close the last of the distance, screaming in and Elbereth relays the disturbing fact that comes with their proximity.

**_Fighter radars have moved from scanning to tracking. Enemy weapons locked on._ **

Baekhyun’s display to his left flashes up as Elbereth speaks. “She’s right. We’re in range and they have a death dot on us. Suho whatever you’re going to do, now would be awesome.”

“Proximity?”

Laser fire sheers past by inches. Suho dodges at the last second, peeling right. Baekhyun spins his display. “A length.”

The radar lock flashes up on everyone’s screens like a final warning and you know your ship is in their crosshairs completely and utterly. Elbereth wraps around your skull, tucking in tight. It takes you a second to inhale and in that final moment Suho reaches above his head and cuts the boosters entirely, stalling Elbereth’s momentum just as he yanks the controls back with everything he has, curving her huge bulk directly upwards with the last of your speed and into a backwards loop on the spot. You grab hold of the seat on reflex. Everything that’s not tied down falls to the ceiling as the internal gravity module is upset and you’re suddenly floating, weightless.

The fighters scream past, underneath you now and Kai smacks his hand on his holo-display, igniting the cannons and cutting a swath ahead of you as Suho rolls the last of the move into a dive, slamming the boosters back on to bring you down behind the fighters. Sehun’s mildly nauseous “Holy shit,” fills the bridge as you now chase the squadron down, pilots inside scrambling too late to stop Elbereth’s laser fire from slicing their machines apart.

The starscape around you lights up with combustion fuel as the fighters explode and you pry your white knuckles from the armrests, hitting the button for the comms. “Everyone okay back there?”

Chanyeol sounds vaguely ill. “ _A little warning would have been nice. But we’re fine_.”

“We’re not done yet. Keep safe.”

“Wait,” Baekhyun is keeping track of the last of the squadron who are now pulling back into a holding pattern, keeping a more cautious eye on the ship. “Look. Have we… made them wary?”

“I don’t trust it.” You widen your display to show them circling you, just out of weapons range. “But we’re not going anywhere with them between us and the space we need to hyper-jump. They’ll try again soon.”

“We need to lose them.” Suho soars Elbereth out of range of the last turrets, the tail end of the immense battlecruiser finally coming into sight. Knowing your cover is reseeding the fighters keep pace, circling. Stars are all that remain as far as you can see beyond them. _Too much open space to be picked off as we try to jump._ And your trick won’t work twice.

 ** _Database reference._** Elbereth’s soft voice fills the bridge. **_Celestial coordinates K-seventeen._**

“What?” Your display doesn’t factor in celestial longitude and latitude so that means nothing. “Baekhyun?”

He immediately rotates the star map above his head. “It’s not far from us… about half a jump.” He finds the coordinates and pins them. “It’s an asteroid belt! The remnants of two former planets.” Baekhyun spins in his seat, enhanced eyes meeting yours. “The fighters will easily track us if we make a short jump to it but the larger planetesimals could provide cover if we lose them in there.”

“Suho, _can_ you lose them?”

“They’re faster but in the debris field they wouldn’t be able to dodge as cleanly with all that speed. It’ll work against them.” Suho replies. “It’s dangerous but it’s how we stole Elbereth in the first place. I can do it again. And I’ve got better navigation this time.”

You catch the corner of Baekhyun’s smile from where you can see him and lift one shoulder. “You have my vote.”

Your armrest twinkles faintly. **_Uranium stores at nearly max capacity._**

“Okay given that… we have enough in the reserves to make this and one full jump. So this _needs_ to work.” Suho powers the drive to minimal capacity as the fighters swing around for another pass. “It’ll be a blind jump because the distance is so short. I need a basic direction and a rough distance and hopefully a small warp will land us just outside the belt. Overshoot it and we’ll just as likely slam into an asteroid. Baekhyun?”

Beside him Baekhyun is already spinning his star map. “Another sixty degrees starboard. And you’d better hurry.”

The first of the fighters breaks formation and cuts across you without firing, trying to force Elbereth closer to the edge of the cruiser again and back in range of the bigger guns. Suho dodges the move with relative ease and you can see the confused look he shares with Baekhyun. _Why not shoot?_

In fact… “Xiumin, why _haven’t_ they engaged like the rest of the squadron? What are they waiting for?”

Xiumin leans forward in his seat, scanning the maps and open starscape around you as best he can. “The pilots must have received new orders.”

Something in your skin crawls. “Orders?”

A blinking light flashes up on your screen. Incoming communication. Oh _hell._

A fighter larger than Elbereth rears up into view from behind the edge of the battlecruiser. Xiumin sinks back into his seat, “It’s Velen.”

“Okay we’re definitely out of here.” You vehemently ignore the communication and try for closer vision on the new craft. Sleek design and dangerously curved edges everywhere like a crescent moon. Yet it still looks strangely familiar…

Finally what you’re seeing hits you. It’s the cruiser’s flagship, like Elbereth once was. Only you’re now looking at the newer, far updated model. _Shit._

Kai hisses sharply. “I think Velen secured himself some upgrades after we took the last one.”

“El?” It takes effort to keep your voice from wavering. “Database rundown of that vessel.”

**_05K71 Maelstrom pursuit series fighter. Class A mid-bulk transport. Manufacturing model EXO-X._ **

“Weapons systems?”

**_Considerably better than mine, captain._ **

“Yeah well we’d still rather have you.” Unbuckling your belt with shaking hands you hurriedly stand up. “Suho, keep shields at maximum and prep for that jump.” Baekhyun looks back at you as you move towards the spine doorway.

“We can’t outrun that thing. Or outgun it.”

“I know.” Catching your hand on the metal framework, you turn quickly. “We just need a few minutes before we make for that asteroid field. Suho, buy us that time. I have an idea.” You hope you sound more confident than you feel, because that thing out there looks like death on wings. And there’s only one person on this ship who might be able to save you from it.

Suho ignites the boosters and peels sharply away to one side as Velen’s ship closes the distance terrifyingly quickly and takes aim, a singular huge beam of laser fire lighting up the whole bridge interior as it shoots past, millimetres away from your underside as you veer to the left. _Woah that’s… that’s new._ You steady yourself as Elbereth obeys Suho’s commands, pushing as fast as he asks of her. The remaining fighters all drop formation behind the flagship and slide silently back into their hatches. Apparently it’s just you and Velen now.

“What’s the plan?” Baekhyun’s eyes are sharp behind the interface wrapping them as he calls out. You swallow roughly. A captain’s place always has been to guide the crew and remain an anchor in rough weather. You _will_ hold it together here, for more sakes than your own. _Even if this crazy idea doesn’t work._ You step quickly through the hatch.

“We’ll need some serious help for the next part. I’ll be right back. Keep us in the air.”

Your boots clank against the floor metal as you run down the spine. Elbereth, ever in your thoughts, lights up the doorway you need before you reach it, unsealing the hatch for you.

The med bay is sparse. Strapped to them Lay and D.O take up both of the little beds in there, Chanyeol and Chen buckled into seats on the nearby wall. They all look up as you enter.

The room pitches again with Suho’s evasive manoeuvres. You steady yourself with a hand against the wall and toss yourself in the direction of the beds. D.O blinks as you reach him. “What’s going on?”

“Velen’s taking matters into his own hands. I think we royally pissed him off when he discovered our heat signature.” You drop your hands to the safety straps crossing his chest and grip them gently. “His flagship is faster than us and better armed. We can’t outrun him. But we can outfox him with your help. I know the last few hours have taken a lot out of you and I’m sorry to have to do this but I’m here to ask for your help one last time. Can you stand?”

D.O nods. You unbuckle the straps and slide them away, helping him sit up. Nearby Lay reaches up to the release mechanism on his own straps and props himself up on one elbow. He digs around in his pocket and you feel a light touch on your arm as you’re getting D.O to his feet.

“Here. If you’re going to do anything close to what I think you are.”

Turning around reveals the small pearl-handled dagger lying in Lay’s outstretched palm. Picking it up carefully you manage a smile. “Thank you. Buckle yourself back in and stay safe, all of you.”

Chen speaks up as you take D.O out the door. There’s a waver in his normally calm tone. “Is everything okay?”

Taking a breath you glance over at him; one of your oldest friends. And at Chanyeol beside him. And Lay on the bed. All of them looking to you. So you nod. “It will be.” The room rumbles and pitches. “Just hold on a little longer.”

D.O is a little slower heading back up the spine so you can’t run, but you manage a slow lope. You’ve made it about halfway up the length of the corridor when the world around you shrieks, rattling sideways with a heavy boom that shakes everything. The shockwave flings the pair of you to the side and you both smack into the spine wall, scrabbling for purchase. Elbereth hunkers down in your head. You steady D.O and look up as the lights around you dim and reignite. _You’ve been hit through your shields._

But… how? You’ve had them at max since you left atmo and Suho has kept you out of enemy fire by the skin of your teeth every time so far. _They should have still held_. That thought frightens the crap out of you. Propping D.O against the wall you wrap one of his hands around the nearest rung. “Hang on, stay there.”

Pitching back down the corridor you swing unsteadily around into the still-open med bay. Chen is looking shaken. “Was that a hit?”

“Felt like it. Listen, change of plans.” _It’s not safe anymore._ “Everyone to the bridge. I don’t want any of you back here where I can’t see you.”

Chanyeol immediately releases his straps, standing and moving for Lay on the bed. Chen unbuckles himself and helps and between the two of them they guide Lay up and out of the room. You collect D.O as you all reach him and manhandle everyone back to the cockpit.

**_Shield strength at thirty percent._ **

Suho is rapidly recalibrating the stabilisers to his right as you enter. “Took a hit to the wing. We’re still able to hold momentum. One more direct hit though and we won’t be.”

You gently release D.O who seems steadier on his feet now. “What the hell happened to our shields so quickly?”

It’s Xiumin who answers. “That pulsar cannon is industrialised tech. It’s heavy matter; the payload has enough energy to overload the shield on impact. And we’re not fast enough to dodge it.”

**_The agent is correct._ **

Elbereth’s voice is… faintly afraid. If you weren’t so used to her calm tone you might not have noticed the change. But it’s there. It makes you grip the tiny knife in your hand a little tighter. “Can we still make the jump?”

Baekhyun keeps an eye on the system readouts. You can see Velen’s ship swinging around for another pass in the screen beside him. “We should be able to do it.”

“Okay, I want you to kick it a little further than planned. Another half a click.”

Suho spins around, eyes off the bridge windows for the first time. “That’ll take us _into_ the debris field.”

“Yeah. I’m counting on it.”

Suho’s face folds into shock and confusion. “If we exit the blind jump there we won’t know what we’ll end up flying into. We’re more likely to careen face-first into an asteroid than find a clear spot.”

“And Velen will follow us. Likely without checking the coordinates first.”

“It’s suicide.”

“Not if we have an edge he doesn’t.” You turn to D.O and speak fast as Suho spins back and hauls Elbereth out of Velen’s path one last time. The boosters all burn, roaring with the velocity. “You said in the facility that you’re aware of the rock and stone around you no matter where you are. If we were to warp into the middle of that asteroid belt could you clear a path for us? You’d only have a split second.”

The particle beam cracks through the last of the shields, burning a dark ashen streak across the bridge windows as it sheers past. Sparks flare from the overheated wiring in the ceiling. D.O plants his feet as you both slide with Suho’s manoeuvre, one hand going to the back of your chair for purchase. “I can try.”

“I believe in you. And this is the only chance we have left. Suho, engage the drive now. Baekhyun!” You beckon him over. “We’ll need your help on this one.”

Baekhyun hurriedly relays the final navigational coordinates to Suho to get him angled correctly and unbuckles himself, moving to your side. You hear multiple other clicks and realise the others who were seated around the room have stood up, moving to join the rest of you in the middle of the bridge; a warm, tall huddle of people around your chair. Hands reach out to form a knot of tangled arms, tucking you all in close and steady against the force of the jump.

“If this doesn’t work…” Baekhyun takes the dagger from you and drags it down his palm, re-opening the cut there. He takes D.O’s hand and does the same, pressing their palms together once he’s finished. “I’m glad we’re all together.”

Something in your chest clenches. “Me too. Suho?” You look over to him. “Punch it.”

~*~


	17. Chapter 17

The long lines of streaking white stars around Elbereth coalesce, abruptly dropping back into the spectrum visible to the naked eye. To you and everyone else on board they solidify in a flash so bright it blinds you momentarily. Everything gives a violent shudder and your group braces itself against the shock of breaking the warp, keeping D.O on his feet.

When you all get your vision back a second later, you’ve dropped fully out of your miniature hyperspace jump and there’s a planetoid the size of a house careening _directly_ at you. Your heart stops.

Suho cuts every booster available and pulls Elbereth into a turn but the leftover speed from the jump still carries you forward. In the centre of your little knot D.O drops his head, eyes closed. Flinging out his free hand towards the bridge windows he opens his fingers and splays them. Then he finds what he’s after and clenches his fist.

The rotating asteroid cracks, splitting apart like an egg just as it’s entirety fills the bridge windows, right on impact. Suho takes the initiative, opens up the engines and twists Elbereth on her side, skimming the ship between the two halves with barely enough room to spare. You press your face against Lay’s shoulder, not able to make yourself breathe properly. _Jesus._

Another gigantic chunk of rock twists close and D.O hauls at it, dragging it careening over the top of Elbereth’s hull with a faint scraping sound. Baekhyun is still connected to his interface; the faint blue glow from the band around his eyes is in the side of your peripheral vision. His words make you raise your head again, blinking.

“Incoming vessel signature.”

**_ETA nine minutes._ **

Suho keeps the speed up as D.O tries to make sure your path is clear. “Is he tagged onto our signature?” Swinging Elbereth under another rolling stone wedge he angles past several smaller pieces that have broken off nearby. Asteroids of varying sizes fill every inch of visible space, clogging the sky in all directions. Without D.O’s help there’d be nowhere to move.

Eyes still closed, D.O pulls his hand sideways with a grunt and drags one massive boulder you didn’t even notice from beside Elbereth into the path of another one ahead of you, knocking them both out of Suho’s immediate way. They shatter and spiral. Baekhyun nods. “Locked on.”

You can almost hear the gears turning in Suho’s head as he does the math. “He’ll drop in half a click behind us; his navigational safety systems won’t allow him any closer straight out of warp. He’ll make up the distance after that.”

Xiumin’s voice is tucked in near Sehun. “That heavy matter canon will cut through anything in its path. He won’t need to dodge through the asteroids; he’ll just burn them apart.”

D.O swipes his hand sharply to one side and opens his fingers again. A tight knot of planetoids ahead of you spreads. Kai glances over to Suho as he uses the opening and angles between them all. “Then we can’t lose him in the field.”

Now that you’re out of the warp everyone gently unwinds, giving Baekhyun and D.O space to work. You watch a long, jagged chunk of asteroid the size of a bullet train crack against its counterpart as you approach. Without opening his eyes D.O snaps it in half for Suho to careen through the debris trail left behind and you’re suddenly struck with a thought. It’s possibly the craziest idea that’s ever crossed your mind, but if it works…

“Chen?”

He turns. “Yeah?”

“Tell me you loaded those ionised batteries of yours on board when we left the planet?”

That earns you a look. “Yeah I did. Why?”

Chanyeol’s head shoots up. “Plasma is _extremely_ flammable.”

Exactly. “Could we dump them? And if we did, what are the chances of that freaking huge canon of his hitting it?”

“Extremely high. And the blast radius would take out this whole field if he set the entire payload off. Nothing in here would survive that chain reaction.”

“Then that might just hold him back. We don’t have long. Chen,” you spin and beckon for the men you need as you back up toward the door. “Show us where you stored them. Xiumin, Chanyeol help me drag them to the hold. D.O you stay with Baekhyun and Suho and keep us steady. Everyone else stick to the bridge. We’ll see just how badly he wants to shoot at us if this place becomes a goddamn minefield.”

Xiumin snags Chanyeol by the sleeve and moves for the door immediately. “We’ll need to arm the batteries so he can see them.”

You step over the hatch lip and push Chen ahead of you into a run. “How many do you have?”

Chen pelts down the spine and swings himself into the common room with a hand to the doorframe. “Four bags’ worth. So about forty units.” He makes a beeline for the pile of black duffel bags in the corner that you last saw him pulling out of his safe planet-side.

Xiumin joins you and grabs one heavy bag by the handle, swinging it up onto his back. “Why do you even _have_ so many of these things just lying around?”

Chen shrugs. “It was a good deal at the time.”

Xiumin rolls his eyes and makes it look effortless to toss another of the bags to Chanyeol who appears behind him. “Remind me again why I threw my lot in with you all?”

Chanyeol rocks back on his heels and catches the bag gently in his cupped arms. “Because we’re the only ones who like you enough to put up with your grumpy ass.”

Xiumin laughs silently, flips him off and heads back out the hatch. You grab the final bag with both hands and haul it along behind them. Chanyeol calls out.

“Hey if we’re all going to die I thought honesty would be appreciated.”

“I’ll slit your throat in your sleep, just watch me.”

You reach the end of the spine last and drop your bag into Chen’s hands to pass down the ladder to Xiumin at the base. “I’m turning this ship around and you’re all going to die a fiery death I swear to god.”

Xiumin catches the last bag and places it on the floor, ripping the zippers open. “That’d be a waste of a damn good act of treason on my part.”

You skid down the ladder with Chen and all four of you crouch down and set to quickly making the batteries live, producing a bright blinking red light on the top of each one. Chanyeol shoves Xiumin with his shoulder as he systematically moves around the bags and receives a swift cuff to the back of his head in reply.

It takes you a fair bit to get them all switched on but Chen finally arms the last battery, standing back up. “They’re the only things not bolted down in here so we can leave them where they are. The pressure vacuum will do the rest. C’mon.” He snags your hand and hauls you to your feet. Everyone systematically scales the ladder back to the catwalk and ducks out the hatch. It’s Xiumin who hauls the heavy door closed when you’re all back in the spine, sealing the safety mechanism with the button that sits on the wall.

Chanyeol turns Chen and pushes him back up the spine. Elbereth’s voice echoes alongside you as you all bolt the whole length back to the bridge.

**_Incoming vessel ETA at one minute._ **

Baekhyun is propping D.O up when you pour through the hatch; one arm around his waist as the other hybrid sways on his feet, the task of continually keeping the shattered field of asteroids out of the way finally beginning to take its toll. You immediately move to him but D.O weakly waves you back.

“I’ve got this.” He shakes his head, sweat sticking to his hairline. “Just… do what you have to do.”

You share a glance with Baekhyun but he nods so you look up at the ceiling. “El? Open the ramp to the back hold. Suho, once we’re clear of the payload spin us around. I want to face this fucker down when he warps in.”

The clunk of the ramp disconnecting from its clasps sounds along the metal flooring and you move back to your console, sitting down. You feel a presence close in around behind you and realise that the others have all surrounded the chair.

Suho cranks the controls and curves Elbereth in a tight arc. D.O takes a deep breath, swings his arm sharply out in front of him and shoves aside the closest floating planetoids in a crack of stone and ice, creating an open space around you the size of a short runway. You don’t miss how he drops his shaky hand to the arm of your chair to steady himself once he’s done. The pinpoint warp eye ahead of you winks into existence and disgorges the deadly flagship.

“How much do we have left on the shields?”

Suho glances to the disc. “We’ve recharged to fifty five percent.”

“Bring it online.”

The incoming communication light blinks on your display. You set your mouth and open the visual link. Velen’s thickset face flickers into life, nearly purple with rage. Beside you D.O lifts his chin and stands taller, silently dropping his hand from the armrest. Baekhyun lets his arm slide away from his waist and D.O keeps his balance on locked knees. You cock your head as ahead of you the crescent ship ignites it’s reverse thrusters, screeching back on momentum very, very rapidly. And you can see why.

The cloud of ionised plasma batteries floats slowly into view; forty lethal winking red lights rotating suspended in the open space between both vessels, effectively preventing any engagement. Velen’s jowls tremble with the force of the words he spits into the communications link.

“I’m going to have your heads on pikes before this day is _over_. You’re nothing more than a horde of murderers and illegals. I _am_ the law and you will not escape my justice-”

You lean forward in your chair, closer to the screen and cut him off. “You’re in no position to be making demands, Velen. I trust you’ve seen what’s presently between your ship and ours?”

Velen’s lip curls. He’s practically vibrating in his seat. So you drive the point home.

“Forty ionised plasma batteries, General. Each of which will chain into an explosion so large that you’ll be vaporised along with us should you have your itchy trigger finger on that impressive primary weapon of yours. Now I don’t know about you, but nobody on this ship has anything left to lose, so…” You raise one shoulder. “Ball’s in your court.”

Velen shoves a meaty finger at the screen. “I’ll hunt you to the ends of the _galaxy_ , each and every one of you. Don’t you _dare_ think this is over. Turn yourselves in now by order of the Federation or you’ll all be labelled traitors to the High Council. There’s not a single bounty hunter in this universe that won’t take the marks I’ll put on your filthy heads.”

You shake your head. “Still not going to happen. We’re walking away from this.”

“You can’t escape me in that scrap heap; its engines won’t last the warps needed to get out of range. The moment you leave this field I’ll follow you. Your little trick only has a finite life _captain_.” Velen spits out your title like its dirt.

You glare at the screen, willing yourself to show no emotion. “Do you really want to wager the survival of your vessel-”

D.O steps forward and grabs the corner of the holo-display, angling it to face himself. “You’re not going to follow us. You’re not going to track this ship or its occupants.” His voice is rough like ash; exhausted and furious. “In fact you’re going to turn your vessel around immediately and return to your battlecruiser.”

Velen scoffs. “Prisoner L- 1485. You…” he looks disgusted. “Survived.”

D.O narrows his eyes at the screen and you glance up at him, shocked, trying to figure out what he’s doing. Meanwhile Velen snorts.

“And I’m doing nothing of the sort. I don’t take commands from _sub_ -humans.”

The corner of D.O’s mouth folds down, baring teeth; the darkest echo of one of his smiles. Next to your chair his hand curls into a slow fist. You angle your own fingers off the armrest out of view and try to touch his leg; he’s too weak for this. But D.O sidesteps out of reach and braces himself, feet firmly spread on the floor.

“You’re going to make this decision on your own.” D.O turns both hands up and opens his fingers. His eyes glow a deep brown. “Trust me.”

The starscape outside starts to slide past as Elbereth begins to move. You shoot Suho a startled look but his hands aren’t on the controls. _What the fuck…_

But you realise with a jolt that it’s not you that’s shifted. It’s everything else.

Every huge asteroid outside starts to shiver, halting in their eternal rotations. Then slowly, eerily, as D.O turns his hands they start to _move._ Towards Velen’s ship.

D.O grits his teeth, panting. “Your kind caged me like one of your creatures because you feared me. Even though I never once in my life gave you cause to.” He heaves a pained breath, planting his weight on his legs. “So I’m going to give you something worth _being_ afraid of.”

Your eyes widen. Every single chunk of rock has slowly picked up speed. An entire _field_ of cracked, jagged asteroids, the remnants of whole _planets…_ most of them bigger than both your ships… have started to close in around Velen’s vessel. You can see your shock mirrored in the General’s eyes slowly turn to horror as he realises D.O’s words.

If he doesn’t move now he’ll be crushed to death.

D.O physically shakes with the force of exerting this much power. “Your move, General.”

“I’ll hunt you _and_ your kind until every one of you is in goddamn chains!”

“No you won’t.” D.O shakes the sweat from his eyes, trembling from head to foot and looking ready to drop. “Not if you’re dead,” he grunts. He balls his right hand again and brings it to smack into the open palm of his left. The asteroids spiral into a slowly whirling centrifuge around Velen’s vessel, squeezing closed like a gigantic fist. The communication channel cuts out with a furious scream as Velen’s ship initiates a hyperspace jump and warps out in a burst of displaced dimension.

D.O collapses. Xiumin and Kai are close enough to lunge and catch him before he smacks into the floor. As he loses consciousness the planetoids outside cease their unnatural movement and roll back into their usual silent drift.

Everyone crouches around him but Lay pushes through, shoving the rest of the worried men back. “Help me get him to the medical bay, quickly. If he’s not done some lasting damage I’ll be very surprised.”

Everyone backs up as Xiumin and Kai lever D.O to his feet half carrying, half dragging him down the spine.

You look around the bridge as Suho immediately cranks the hyperdrive and it’s Baekhyun who catches your eye as he backs up towards his station. He silently holds up both hands. The blood on his palms is dry.

D.O did that by _himself._

“Category five.” Chanyeol mutters, looking in the direction D.O has gone. He sounds shaken.

~*~

With Lay and D.O tucked into the med bay, Suho informs you that D.O’s bluff had been correct -Elbereth is far enough out of Velen’s sensors with him retreating to the battlecruiser to initiate a proper warp jump without being tracked- so you give the command to take the ship to hyperspace then order everyone to get off the bridge as soon as it’s physically possible. None of you have had a proper night’s rest in days, barely sleeping in shifts last time you had a moment. Days fuelled on only adrenaline are unsustainable.

One by one everyone drifts away once you’re safely at interstellar speed. Baekhyun and Suho are last; setting up autopilot instructions with Elbereth before leaving to lie down. Lay elects to stay to watch over D.O who is still out.

Which is how you end up sitting at your desk, head in your hands, trying to comprehend the fact that you’re all still alive, still in one piece and out of the Federation’s clutches. For now. You cradle your forehead against the heels of your hands, focussing on taking deep breaths in and out.

It’s been one helluva week.

The thought makes you laugh. It sounds mildly hysterical even to your own ears and you lower your head onto your arms, resting against the smooth industrial plastic of the desk. Your shoulders feel impossibly heavy. Nearby, the fused ball of credit chips catches the light of the stars streaming past the window like white fire and creates a tiny latticework of reflective sparkles along the walls. You turn your head and stare at them until your eyes drift closed. Just an hour, then you’ll check on D.O and Lay again…

“El? Monitor D.O’s vitals please. Wake me immediately if anything changes.”

~*~

You forgot to set the retinal alarm on your nearby glasses. Which explains why it’s the circadian light turning on in your quarters to symbolise night-time that rouses you. You sit up quickly and something in your back pings, drawing a wince. Your days of falling asleep in cold hard chairs are probably long past. You roll your neck. There’s a succession of faint pops. _Ow._

Twisting to stand up, you suddenly pause. On one side of the desk propped innocuously against the threadbare copy of The Fellowship of the Ring sits a single, viciously sharp silver dagger. You blink a couple of times and reach out when your surprise dies down, running a slow finger along the handle. You’ve never seen either of the twin blades up close and now that you’re looking at it there’s a faint engraving to the hilt. Whether its words or a pattern you’re unable to make it out, worn down with years and repeated use. There’s not a speck of blood on the blade so care was taken to clean it before it was placed there while you were out.

Touched beyond measure, you pick up the dagger -it’s surprisingly heavy- and carefully place it in line with your gradually increasing collection of heartfelt gifts. Seeing it all together makes something unfurl in your mind that takes you a moment to chase down and recognise. You pick it apart and try to look closer. In fact you almost don’t recognise it when you realise it has a name.

It’s happiness. Contentment. Something seems to have carefully and gradually filled the hole that you’ve been trying so hard to hold closed by yourself for all this time. And you didn’t realise it until now. Once, back in your living room a lifetime ago something vital had been eaten out of your chest. Now the old wound has been gently, steadily stitched back together while you were too busy running around to notice. Nine sutures. A fellowship after all.

Huh. _Who’d have thought?_

You trail your fingertips over the objects as you stand and leave your quarters. The light setting for night-time is low, leaving the ship in a gentle, amber twilight. Your room is the closest to the bridge so you wander in there first.

It’s empty and peaceful. Elbereth winks up a holo-display as you approach Suho’s chair, knowing before you ask for it what you’re after. You check the heading. You’re on course for a distant trade moon in a sector Chen is familiar with and the speed is satisfactory. You should reach the destination point in a couple of days.

A hundred thousand stars streak past every instant and you watch them for a moment. Eventually though, you turn away to leave back the way you came. “Keep us steady, El.”

**_Always, Captain._ **

“Is everyone still okay?”

**_I can list their bio-rhythms for you but you’re going to still check for yourself._ **

Your smile is fond. “You know me too well.”

You make sure to take off your boots and place them inside your room door as you pass, allowing for quieter steps. Elbereth keeps the lights lowered as you walk down the spine. Sehun’s room is opposite yours and he’s an undisturbed lump under the covers as you glance in passing, familiar gentle snores drifting out. No more nightmares.

When he’s not camping in your room, Baekhyun’s quarters have always been next to yours on any ship you’ve ever had and here is no exception. He prefers company when sleeping though, so when you find an empty bed you’re not overly concerned. He’ll be somewhere.

D.O’s allocated room following on Sehun’s side is empty and so is Kai’s on the opposite side to that, neither of which are startling revelations so you duck into the med bay just beyond them.

Lay is crashed out in a chair beside D.O’s bed, one hand linked with the other hybrid. You gently untangle their fingers and peel Lay’s bloodstained hand away. He can’t heal if he’s fast asleep and it seems the effort has tired him out again if he hadn’t even closed his own cut before succumbing. You snag an unused blanket from the other bed and drape it silently over him where he sits, tucking his wounded hand under it for warmth.

D.O’s vitals are steady when you examine the chart readout drifting beside the bed which is a singularly good sign. They can resume again when Lay wakes up. You gently place a hand on D.O’s arm, “I don’t know if you can hear me where you are right now but I’ll thank you again when you’re conscious. We owe you everything. I need you to know that.”

D.O breathes steadily and you drag his own blanket slightly higher to cover his chest. Neither of the men so much as twitch as you slip back out again.

Across the way you discover Chen asleep on one of the common room couches, leg dangling off, a half-empty mug of tea forgotten on the floor by his lax hand. You step around, move it carefully out of the way and jostle his arm. “You should really get to bed too. C’mon.”

You’re greeted by a snuffle and a shake of his head as Chen turns and buries further into the cushions. Okay then. You give him one final pat. “Don’t catch a cold.”

Lay’s room on the other side of the med bay is bypassed. Opposite it is Xiumin’s and you stop for a long moment in the doorway. Baekhyun _and_ Chanyeol both appear to have migrated here at some point, much to Xiumin’s annoyance if their prone figures relegated to the floor are any indication. Somewhere though Xiumin seems to have taken pity and tossed the pair down a pillow, even if he’s not letting them on the bed.

You laugh quietly and turn away, glancing into the furthermost room at the end of the spine. This one at least holds no surprises; Suho is a small, curled ball on the bed with Kai wrapped around him like a shirtless cloak, both sound asleep. You reach around the door hatch on one arm and tap the small bunny lamp on the desk with the other, switching it off.

Checks complete and mind settled you make one last round of the back hold, ensuring that nothing vital came loose when you dumped the payload of batteries. It takes you a good half hour to verify that the numerous safety spacewalking cords haven’t been damaged, that the interior integrity is solid and that everything seems in order. Your ship is secure. By then you’ve tired yourself out again and your body is firmly reminding you that a few hours in a desk chair isn’t going to cut it. Best to pay attention.

On your way back to your room you happen to spot that both of Xiumin’s new companions have tried their luck and attempted to settle in with him again. It appears to be holding. Either that or Xiumin has simply given up resisting and at some point accepted the mess of heavy arms and legs. They’re all an indefinable tangle under the covers now and that gives you a slow burst of peace.

Your own room is tranquil when you finally make it back and sleep ends up finding you far more easily than you can remember in a very long time. At some point Chen drowsily wanders in and you make room for his familiar weight, barely waking. His back against yours is warm and solid and you drift again.

You dream of home. There’s no screams this time.

~*~

It’s so peculiar to wake up simply by your own body clock -no alarms, no emergencies- that when you first open your eyes you just… lie there. Because you can. _How unusual._

Eventually though you have to get up. It’s mid-morning. Squashing the heel of your hand into your eye you stagger up and over to the bathroom. You’re alone so Chen must have meandered off again in the early hours. Probably checking in on Sehun.  

It’s only when you close the door and look into the mirror above the sink that you groggily realise you’re still wearing the godawful grey Federation uniform from the day before. Splatters of dried blood stain the material from the fighting in the prison and you immediately unzip the jacket, shucking it off. The regulation pants follow. Part of you wants to wash the uniform in case you need the disguise again; the other half wants to incinerate it. You settle for dropping it in the corner and resolving to make a decision later.

The water in the shower is warm when you wave your hand over the sensor to turn it on. You’ve never been more grateful for decent pressure in your life so you end up simply standing under the flow for a while, head down, trying not to think too far ahead because you haven’t had coffee yet. The bathroom fills with steam as you stand and breathe, heavy and cocooning. All your muscles can finally unknot and relax. Also it’s obvious that your hair badly needs a decent shampoo so you eventually set to using whatever regulation goop the dispenser gives you. At least it lathers.

You’re up to washing it all off when Baekhyun’s voice makes you jump a foot, nearly slipping over in the process.

“It’s a good thing these old ships have industrial paint or you’d have peeled it off by now.”

“Jesus Christ, how many times do I have to tell you? A little warning please.” You shove your sopping hair back off your face. “I could have broken my neck.”

Baekhyun is a misty shadow moving about the bathroom. “Sorry.”

“No you’re not. I know I locked that door.”

His obscured outline hops itself up onto the sink counter. “You did.”

Swiping a palm across the glass at eye level removes a streaky section of the fog. “What’s up?”

“Everyone’s up. And about.”

You squint. “That’s to be expected. How’s D.O?”

“I haven’t seen him yet, but I can hear him. He’s awake and stable enough to be with the others.”

There’s something in his voice that gives you pause. So you try a question. “Have you been out to see them all yet?”

Baekhyun’s eyes remain firmly on his feet, swinging as his legs dangle off the countertop. “Not yet.”

Oh.

“Are...” You pause, squeeze your hair out and use the sensor to stop the flow of water. “Baekhyun are you nervous?”

The resulting silence from the one person you can usually never get to shut up is more telling than anything. You let out a breath. “I know it’s a lot to get used to. We’ve always flown solo and there’s suddenly now a lot of permanent people here. But you don’t have to worry, I promise. They’re just like you and I; they’ve got nowhere else to go. So this is home. For all of us.”

“I know.” Baekhyun shakes his head gently. “It’s… been a long time since I’ve been around this many people in close quarters. And I normally like company so I guess I’m just being stupid. I’ll get used to it soon.”

“Nerves aren’t stupid. Irrational sometimes, but never stupid.” You pause. “Hey can I have a towel before all this steam vanishes?”

A thin square of material is flung over the glass and you snag it, wrapping yourself up and making a knot at the front to hold everything in place. Baekhyun is still sitting on the counter when you step out and he looks up at you, offering a faint smile. You elbow him gently as you pass to see into the slowly demisting mirror.

“You seemed to have no problem messing with Xiumin last night.”

That earns you a grin. “It was Chanyeol’s idea. I was reading in the lounge with Chen at first. And it ended up being more of a challenge just to see if we could do it. Xiumin kicked us out before dawn.”

“See? You made a new friend already.” A quick search through the cabinet drawers reveals a black comb with a red Federation emblem embossed into the handle amid the rest of the junk. You wash it under the tap before dragging it through your hair. “Tell you what, I’ll get dressed and we can go out together. How’s that sound?”

Baekhyun visibly brightens. It makes you irrationally happy to see such an expression on his face. You drop the comb and pick up a set of familiar blue chopsticks resting beside the sink. “Now fuck off while I get changed and take your lock-picking kit with you. I’ll be out in a moment.”

Baekhyun laughs all the way out to wait by your desk.

~*~


End file.
